


Princess

by RavensDagger



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow, RWBY
Genre: Comedy, F/F, F/M, Gen, Grimm - Freeform, Semi-Crack, Shipping, parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2020-09-07 01:11:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 51
Words: 117,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20300992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavensDagger/pseuds/RavensDagger
Summary: In which Taylor’s only memories are about how to escalate until everyone respects you, Salem tries to deal with being a single mom, and all of Remnant develops an acute case of acarophobia.Crossposted from Spacebattles. If you wish to see the many wonderful pieces of fanart created for this story, please visit: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/princess-worm-rwby.761227/





	1. Prologue

Prologue

She was falling.

The pain hardly registered now, only the wind screaming past bloodstained hair.

Her eyes closed. She embraced death.

The impact blew whatever breath she held out of her lungs. Her back twisted, the shock making her flinch forwards. Then she sank.

The murky depths clawed at her face and she found herself with a second wind, a sudden burst of energy where moments before there was none. She fought, tried to swim, tried to move the one arm that felt sluggish, her legs which were weak.

“Help!” she called out. Her voice sounded wrong, too desperate, too young, too broken.

It didn’t matter. The liquid slipped over her prone form and stuck to her. She was the fly caught in the spider’s web.

Her last gasp ended with black sludge crawling into her mouth and down her throat.

Then the darkness rose around her and the last thing that Taylor Hebert, Skitter, Weaver, Khepri saw, was a sea of untainted stars, a jagged, broken moon, and two figures, one light and one dark, looking down at her.

***

Salem lifted her head from the tome sitting before her and looked off to the west. Through the stained glass of her library’s windows, she could make out the moon hanging above, slowly tumbling towards the distant horizon as the night started to wane.

She stood, slowly and carefully, as she did all things, and looked across the room. Only a few seers were there to keep her company and most of those were sorting through the towering rows of books, keeping them dust free and clean in the dry air of the Spire.

“Come,” she said, her voice so low as to be a whisper. From the darkness came two creatures, both as dark as the shadows in which they lived. When she started to walk they followed, slithering from one shadow to another in her wake.

She climbed down one of the spiral staircases of her home, each step slow and measured, her dress pooling by her ankles. When she reached the very bottom she paused. There was something in her domain, something in the air that felt... wrong.

“Find it,” she ordered and two shadows slid past her and into the room. She followed after them, still taking her time, still moving at the same slow and measured pace of someone that had all the time in the world to do as she wanted.

The chamber was colossal, a cavern lit by a thousand grimmlamps that floated by the ceiling and mingled with the stalactites that hung like the teeth of a dead beast. The purple light they cast did little to push away the shadows.

A pool, unmoving and of a substance that allowed no light to escape, took up the bottom of the room’s interior. A few Grimm moved out of the pool with the languorous motions of something coming awake for the first time. These she ignored.

Her shades were milling, spinning through the air above something that should not be.

Salem quickened her pace.

“Remove it,” she said, dark eyes fixed upon the formless thing heaped on the edge of the shoreline.

Her grimm moved to obey, pulling the thing back and out of the pool of darkness. They left it a few feet from the edge, then moved back to where the dark could swallow them once more.

Salem came to a stop above the thing. She knelt, robes bunching around her as she folded herself over and looked with something approaching open curiosity at the thing which had invaded her domain. A hand, white as snow and lined with blackened veins, grabbed the edge of the thing and turned it over.

“How very interesting.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the folks on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (except for eschwartz), but I like you anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

She woke up, naked, in a bed.

Something told her that this was wrong, that she should get up and out of the bed, start searching for a weapon and call upon her swarm to defend herself. But when she started to move it was as though weights had been tied to her body, every motion making her heart thud faster in her chest and a wave of exhaustion washing over her.

So she called her swarm, the millions of creatures that should have been around her, waiting, willing to obey her because she was... because she was her.

A few hundred heeded her call. That was all, not the millions she expected. They were hers to control, yes, but they were also wrong, something tugging at them to continue what they were doing, even if that was just flying aimlessly in circles, constantly on the hunt for prey that wasn’t there.

Her vision through their eyes was warped and confusing, a sea of jagged, stony outcrops bathed in purple light, patches of black oozing liquid that made her heart beat erratically when she focused on them and places where the ground itself was on fire.

Then she brought them around, her tiny swarm buzzing as they approached the only building in sight. It was a tower, a monolith of black stone that rose out of the ground like an accusing finger, daring the skies to protest its intrusion. Crimson light spilled out from open windows. It took only a moment for the smallest of her swarm to slip into the building and race down its many corridors.

She was lying with her eyes closed when the swarm found her room. They fluttered open and for the first time she saw the creatures she was controlling with her own eyes.

They were wasp-like, with a bulbous tail hiding an inch-long stinger and six knife-tipped feet that pressed into the blanket of her bed. Red and black wings beat at the air hard enough to make the whole room vibrate as they hovered above her.

She called one to her, the rest moving towards the walls and ceiling and floor, covering embroidered carpets and hardwood furniture that she had paid little mind to. It, the smallest of her swarm, landed gently by her side, the white bone over its face shifting as it tilted its head.

Slowly, with more effort that it was worth, she dragged her arm out from the cocoon of velvety blankets and laid a hand on the wasp’s head. “What are you?” she asked.

“It is a lancer,” a voice said from the entrance.

A woman stood there, tall and regal, clothed in black robes with fine red trim. She stepped into the room with little care for the creatures, the lancers, scuttling by her feet. She didn’t need to, they moved out of her path of their own volition. “Lancer,” she repeated while her thumb stroked the wasp’s head.

The woman paused by the side of the bed and followed the path of the girl’s arm to the lancer she was caressing. “Are you not afraid of it?”

“No,” she said.

“And you can control it?” the woman asked. Red eyes locked onto hers, and although she felt no hostility from the woman, the gaze still made her want to shrink back into the bed.

“Yes,” she replied truthfully. “It’s a bug,” she added.

One delicate eyebrow perked on the woman’s head. “And not the others?”

“Others?” she asked.

The woman gestured towards the door. They only had to wait a few heartbeats before another creature stepped in. This one was tall, long arms ending in sharpened bone-white claws, a dog’s head with teeth as long as the girl’s fingers and a body covered in coarse black fur. “This is a beowolf,” she said.

“Okay,” she replied easily.

“Can you control it as you do these lancers?” the woman asked.

“It’s not an insect,” she explained.

Another eyebrow joined the first. “How very specific,” she said. “And you’re not afraid of it?” she asked, still gesturing towards the beowolf.

She took a moment to inspect the black creature again. It was large and intimidating, teeth bared as though ready to take a bite out of her at any moment. “No.”

The woman made a noise in the back of her throat that might have been a laugh. “Most in your position would be terrified.”

“Is there anyone else like me?” she asked. Her hand dropped away from the lancer’s head, every finger burning with the fatigue of overuse.

“I don’t know,” the woman said.

She yawned, jaw cracking and eyes watering with the action. “What’s your name?”

The woman tilted her head to one side, still inspecting her carefully. “I am Salem, queen of the Grimm.”

“Okay,” were her last words before the darkness of sleep overtook her.

***

Salem watched the girl-child as she rested. Her injuries were severe, or they had been before she deigned to heal her of the worst of them. Still, the blankets of her bed were wrapped around a too-thin body and bunched up on the side with the missing arm. By height, she seemed about Cinder’s age, though she seemed far too thin for that.

She looked away from the girl-child and to the infestation of lancers occupying the room. They were docile, more so than they would normally be, even when in her presence. The one the child had been fondling wrapped itself into a tight ball by the child’s side, claws held in so as to avoid hurting her.

It was disquieting, unnerving. So many years had passed since anything of interest had happened, since she had seen anything truly new, that she wasn’t sure how to react to this sudden intrusion.

She could have just killed the girl, get it over with and protect her domain. But was that truly what she wanted? She was Salem, queen of the Grimm. She did not need protecting from a mere girl, not even one that shared her features.

“Watch over her,” she ordered the beowolf in the room’s centre as she spun around and walked out of the room. “She is interesting.”

***

When she awoke a second time the lighting in her room was different. The sun outside was at its zenith and the purplish haze that robbed the landscape of its colour was at its weakest. She looked around the room, senses extending to her little swarm of lancers.

It only took her a moment to discover that she was not alone.

The woman, Salem, was back. She was sitting on a chair that had not been there before, a book on her lap and her head turned down to focus on the pages. She studied Salem for some time, gaze following the curve of her jaw and the black veins around her eyes. Her hair, too, was bizarre, six strands like ponytails sticking out in two pairs of three from either side of her head, the rest of her hair cascading down to the small of her back in a white fountain.

“Your hair looks like a spider,” she said.

Salem looked up from her book, folded the corner of one page without looking, and shut the tome with a gentle thud. “Does it?”

She nodded. She could feel a warmth climbing onto her cheeks and she wondered why she had let herself speak aloud.

“Should I perhaps change hairstyles then?” Salem asked.

She shook her head. It wouldn’t do to insult the woman caring for her. “I like it.”

Salem made another noise at the back of her throat, one she was quickly associating with faint amusement. “Then I’ll keep it this way,” she said easily. “How are you feeling?”

She paused, moving still-naked limbs under the satin sheets of her bed, letting the soft material murmur as it slid across bare skin. Her arm and legs were still heavy, still tired, but now it was the tired of a muscle recovering after hard exercise, a familiar burning and ache. “Better. A lot better,” she said.

“You have been asleep for three days,” Salem said.

“Oh... I’m sorry,” she said as she stretched her legs under the blankets until they quivered. The wasp nestled by her side moved out of the way with all of the grumpy disposition of a wet cat.

“It is of little consequence,” Salem said. “I had questions for you.”

Something, a little voice at the back of her mind, told her to be careful, to be wary of this Salem woman, but it was easily drowned out by her apathy. She just wanted to sleep again, or maybe to walk around and move? Her body didn’t seem to agree on what she wanted to do. “Okay,” she said, finally.

“What is your name, child?” Salem asked.

“My name,” she repeated. She had a name. She had many names, but at the moment none of them were coming to the surface. “I don’t remember,” she said.

One of Salem’s eyebrows perked. “That is unfortunate,” she said. “I cannot continue calling you child.”

She shook her head. “I’m not a child.”

“Of course not,” Salem lied. She caught it, but didn’t comment. “Then perhaps a nickname for now. Maybe Wasp?” Salem gestured at all the lancers still hanging onto the ceiling.

She gave Salem a flat, unamused look. “That is not my name,” she said.

“I know it isn’t, child,” Salem said.

Her unamused look turned into a glare, but all that did was add a twinkle of joy in Salem’s eye. “I don’t like Wasp,” she said. It wasn’t a nice name. It wasn’t even a real name. And it sounded too villainous besides.

“Very well, we can table that for later. There are more important questions.” Salem shifted in her seat, one leg crossing over the other. “How did you come to be here?”

“I don’t remember,” she replied instantly.

Salem looked at her for a long time. “Nothing at all?” she prodded.

She wanted to keep what little she knew to herself, but then, maybe that wasn’t wise. She had to extend some trust eventually, and Salem had been nothing but kind to her. “I remember a fight. There were lots of us. I had a big swarm.”

“And who were you fighting?” Salem asked.

She frowned, trying to parse the memories, even though most of them were patchy at best. “It looked like a man. He was golden, and powerful, and it took a lot of us to fight him.”

Salem’s interest, which had just been idle curiosity before, sharpened to a razor’s edge. Red eyes locked on her and refused to blink. “Tell me more,” she demanded.

“He... he destroyed a lot, killed so many of us. But we fought him and... and I think we won? Maybe.”

“And then you awoke here?” she asked.

She frowned a little, gaze drifting over to the window. The moon hung close to the horizon. “The moon here is broken. It wasn't before.”

Salem’s breath caught, and for a few long seconds she wondered if something she said had hurt the woman. “I think I see. What else can you recall?”

She frowned, trying to make sense of the fragmented images she still had. “Lots of portals, and a city by the bay. It was... my city. My friends... I.” She stopped and with an effort of will moved her hand up to her face to wipe away some of the tears gathered there. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s fine,” Salem said.

“Where am I?” she asked Salem.

Salem took a while to respond. “You are on what remains of the world. What was left.” With a single graceful motion Salem uncrossed her legs and stood. “I have affairs to take care of. Rest for now. We can talk more later.”

“Okay,” she said. “Thank you.”

Salem paused, eyes glancing down for a moment before meeting hers again. “Akelarre,” she said before moving towards the door.

“What?” she asked.

“Your name, it shall be Akelarre.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (except for eschwartz), but I like you anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

Akelarre moved through the edge of the spire with the slow, gentle pace of someone afraid of sudden movements. The ache in all her limbs had receded over the last few days, but not so much so that she was able to walk without taking her time.

The view from the many arrow slits and stained glass windows was always the same. A world of dark rocks under a grey sky, purple haze floating bare meters off the ground in swirling patches that rotted away any weeds that dared poke out from the ground. Sometimes the black pools hidden in crevices would warp and bubble and a creature of black skin and white bone would crawl out of the muck.

She supposed that it was almost pretty, in a way. Just like her new name.

She wasn’t sure what to think of it. There was no meaning to the word; none that she knew, anyway. Maybe it was just a cute nickname, but then Salem didn’t seem the sort to do that. She was supposed to be a queen, after all.

Akelarre looked outside again at the desolate wastes and wondered what kind of queen would want to rule over a kingdom of monsters.

She didn’t know whether to trust Salem or not. The woman felt... nice, kind even, but also careful and smart. She was a cynic. And maybe, most of all, she was lonely.

She didn’t dare spy on her with her lancers -- the wasps were far too big and noisy to go unnoticed -- but she had sent them to scout the Spire and so far she hadn’t found any signs of life other than the black creatures with the bone masks.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” came Salem’s voice from deeper in the corridor.

Akelarre nodded, her gaze still fixed on the world outside, but her lancers paid attention as Salem glided closer. “I’m feeling better,” she admitted. “Less sore.”

“Your health is improving at a decent pace,” Salem said. “We will have to see about fixing that arm of yours.”

Akelarre looked down at the stump. She couldn’t actually see it as it was hidden under the fabric of the white robe she was wearing, but the motion under the material made it obvious that something was wrong. “Can you do that?”

“Certainly,” Salem said. “You might find my replacement to be better than the original, in time.”

Akelarre nodded and turned a little to look at Salem’s reflection in the glass. “Are there others?” she asked. It was strange to find herself standing next to someone taller than her, though she couldn’t say why.

“Others?” Salem repeated.

She gestured at the world past the window. “People, like us.”

Salem thought on it for a moment, then shook her head. “I’m afraid not. There are humans out there, and faunus, but as for those like us, I’m afraid it is just you and me, Akelarre.” One of Salem’s hands, a slim, white thing, rose to her shoulder and held onto it with gentle pressure.

“If I’m like you, and you’re the queen, does that make me the princess?” she asked with just a hint of amusement, her gaze moving away from Salem’s reflection to her own. Red eyes stared back, sunken into a face that was too pale. The black veins around her eyes and neck stood out against her skin. Her hair was black as pitch and flowed with almost liquid grace to pool around her shoulders and along her back.

Salem blinked, then made her laughing noise, a sort of chuffing at the back of her throat. “I suppose. Though don’t you think it’s a little early to claim royalty?”

Akelarre looked over the barren wastes again, then she gestured at it dismissively. “Not much to rule over,” she said.

Salem tilted her head a little, as though considering. “I suppose not,” she said. Her hand slipped off Akelarre’s shoulder. “Follow me,” she ordered as she turned in a swish of robes.

Akelarre followed.

The steps Salem led her towards climbed down in a slow spiral and they went on for a very long time. She sent some of her lancers ahead to scout. Salem took the steps one at a time, her pace even and regal but not so fast that Akelarre grew tired.

By the time they reached the bottom, Akelarre’s heart was beating faster and her legs ached more than they had earlier, but she was still well enough. Her lancers moved ahead and through the cavernous room. It only took a stray thought for them to form up into triangular wing formations to better scout the cave.

Salem looked up as one group of the large wasps flew by, then turned in a tight formation to give the room another pass. “Your fine control is rather impressive,” she said. “Better than mine, even. I suspect you can control a smaller variety of Grimm but have more control over your little niche. Interesting.”

She nodded. It wasn’t as if she could confirm what Salem had said, but it felt right. “I like... arthropods.”

Salem nodded and walked deeper into the room. “Light,” she called out and from the ceiling came more of the black creatures, these ones like jellyfish in appearance, though their cores glowed with a reddish inner fire that cast the shadows away. They kept circling above while Salem knelt next to the large brackish pool in the room’s centre. “The Grimm are mine, and I am of the Grimm. Some say that the Grimm lack souls but that is not entirely true.”

She stood, her hand moving out of the pool while a ripple flowed across. Then the surface bubbled and a form moved out of the water. At first it looked like a man, but then the head of a horse rose before it and soon a long-limbed creature was walking out of the pool with careful steps.

“This is a nuckelavee,” she said. “Can you control it?” Akelarre shook her head and the nuckelavee walked off towards a distant corner of the cavern. “When they say that the Grimm are soulless they are wrong. The Grimm have a soul. One. And it is mine.”

“Are they like your children?” Akelarre asked. Guilt was building up inside her. If that was the case, then by taking the lancers for her own she had stolen Salem’s children.

“No, they are servants and warriors and tools,” she said. Her red eyes dared Akelarre to deny it, to question the morality of it.

“They are expendable,” Akelarre said. “Like... like my swarm.” She look up where her lancers were flying in increasingly intricate patterns near the ceiling, some passing within millimeters of each other without so much as brushing.

Salem’s smile was all teeth for a moment before it became demure again. “Exactly.” She knelt again and this time the creature that followed was no taller than Akelarre’s shin, but the moment it detatched itself from the pool something snapped into place and it froze.

She leaned forward to inspect it. At first glance it was merely a very large scorpion, one the size of a housecat. But unlike any she’d ever seen--not that she could truly remember seeing one--this one was covered in white bones with a fine red filigree on them. Its stinger looked poised and ready to punch a hole through armour if it so chose. “This one is mine,” Akelarre said.

“Is it?” Salem asked, one eyebrow raising slowly. Salem reached towards the scorpion grimm, then pointed it to someplace further down the cave. It obeyed. No thoughts, no denial of the order. Salem asked and it moved.

Akelarre watched it scuttle by, felt the strain as her control over it was stretched and finally ignored. It was almost insulting, but at the same time it truly wasn’t. “What are they for?” she asked.

“The Grimm?” Salem asked. She was watching Akelarre for a reaction. She must have approved of what she saw. “The Grimm are my warriors, my army against the blight of mankind.”

“You fight mankind?” Akelarre asked.

Salem glanced over the pool for a long few moments. “May I tell you a story?” Akelarre’s nod was enough for Salem to start. “Long ago this world was ruled by two gods, Brothers, one of dark and one of light... a golden man-” she glanced pointedly at Akelarre. “They were powerful, but they did not understand the hearts of people. We rebelled, and eventually they left.”

Akelarre felt her brow shifting down. “You didn’t win,” she said.

Salem look genuinely surprised, if only for the barest hint of a moment before she schooled her features. “And what would victory have looked like?” she asked.

“They would have died,” she said simply.

Salem’s bark of laughter echoed out into the cavern. “Perhaps, yes. But I was never so fortunate. I will spare you the details, but they took someone very special away from me and then twisted him against me. Once we ruled a paradise together, had a family, but he threw it all away in service of beings who care nothing for any of us.”

“He’s still alive?”

Salem nodded. “He is. And he has been twisting humanity against me, against us, for thousands of years. He wants to call the Brothers back. Make no mistake, I do terrible things to weaken them, lay low their heroes and shatter their dreams, because that is the only way they will ever be free. They will never thank me, but in the end I will watch the sun rise on a free world.”

***

Salem watched the child, Akelarre, as her words sank in. She hoped that they would be enough to convince her to side with Salem. There were other means of obtaining loyalty, but she didn’t want to have to break the child, not when she was the first person she had met in millennia that might suffer under the same curse.

A friendship now could, if Akelarre was like Salem, last forever.

And what did that say about her own health, that she would stoop so low as to attempt to court a child just to stave off the long days of plotting and planning? But she was the Queen of the Grimm, she answered to no one, and so didn’t need to make excuses for herself or her actions.

If her suspicions were correct, then the golden man Akelarre had fought had to be the God of Light. And if she was cursed as Salem had been, then perhaps this child predated her. Perhaps she too had rebelled against the gods and had suffered ever since.

Was there a chance that Salem could have been the same? Stuck in a pit of absolute darkness for countless millennia? Perhaps.

Akelarre bent down next to her. Not with the same grace that Salem displayed, but with confidence in every motion. She reached a hand towards the pool and dipped it in with all the care of a child that had never touched an open flame.

A minute passed, then two. The pool bubbled and Salem watched with interest as a creature crawled out of the pit.

It was small, no bigger than a hand-span and black as a moonless night. Eight legs moving in perfect tandem helped the thing scuttle towards its new master where it nestled into Akelarre’s palm. The fact that its legs ended in spikes, or that its bone-white mask was split down the middle to reveal cruel fangs didn’t seem to bother the girl one whit.

Salem placed a hand on Akelarre’s head and the girl tilted her head back to stare at Salem. She smiled. “Well done,” she said. “It is a terrifying specimen.”

Akelarre’s cheeks puffed out. “It was supposed to be cute,” she said.

Salem held back a laugh. It wouldn’t do to lose her composure before her newest... recruit.

Yes, life was taking a strange turn for Salem.

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (except for eschwartz), but I like you anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

Akelarre was wandering the Spire again. She hadn’t been keeping count of the days, especially not at the start when everything was still a haze of pain and confusion, but she assumed that it had been at least a month since she’d awakened.

In that time the Spire was home to exactly two people that weren’t her or Salem, a lot of Grimm, and now an entire swarm of insects of every size and shape. Salem seemed impressed by her collection of tiny Grimm, though she did seem to want to push her towards making bigger, more dangerous specimens.

For now she was satisfied with her swarm; the Grimm bugs stuffed into the hems of her robe and entwined in her hair felt natural, reassuring even. She was... content spending her days exploring the tower with her own eyes and occasionally talking to Salem when they met in the corridors or in Salem’s library.

Every afternoon, when the sun started to dip, Akelarre would walk down the spiral stairs in the middle of the tower and to the pool room below. There she would dip her feet in the black and summon more Grimm.

Her memories were still fuzzy, but she seemed to have no issue calling forth a seemingly unending variety of insects. She wondered, idly, how many there were.

But those idle concerns didn’t matter any more. There were guests in the castle. Three of them. They had arrived via a strange flying machine that had docked atop one of the crystal spires nearby, before all three walked over to the castle proper. She knew, because from the moment the machine was a speck in the distant sky she had watched them approaching.

One had moved straight to the throne room where Salem was waiting, the other two had found one of the waiting rooms nearby and were just... waiting.

She had to assume that the one in the throne room was there on some sort of business, and maybe the other two were guards or companions. They all seemed very young. Whatever the case was, Akelarre was curious, and while she didn’t feel as though she had ever been the social sort, she had been mostly alone for a few weeks.

Yes, she was going to go meet those strangers and she was going to make some friends.

***

The Lands of Darkness were, as far as one Emerald Sustrai was concerned, a bit much.

Oh, she didn’t mind being there, especially not if it was because she was escorting her Cinder and keeping her safe. She just wished that maybe Cinder wanted escorting elsewhere. Like a beach resort, or a shopping centre in Atlas, and not in the literal hell on Remnant that the Grimmlands represented.

“Damn this is lame.”

Then again, the situation could also have improved if it was just her and Cinder, not her, Cinder and one arrogant, rude, idiotic half-human cyborg asshole. “Shut up Mercury,” she said as she crossed the waiting room and slumped into one of the crystal seats lining the walls.

Queen of the Grimm Salem might have been, but interior decorator she was not. All of her castles and spires and evil dungeons shared the same theme. Crystals, red lighting, evil chandeliers.

Not that she was going to tell the pants-wettingly terrifying woman. Even Cinder seemed to, if not fear, then at least respect the Queen of all Grimm.

“You’d think she could afford a television,” Mercury sneered as he leaned against a nearby wall.

“A television would be nice, but I don’t think we’d get any signal.”

Emerald’s heart decided, after a bit of jumping around, to stay in her chest, but it was a near  
thing. She scrambled to her feet and looked around the room, almost immediately spotting the person that had spoken.

Her heart decided to make another go at escaping.

The first thought to cross her mind was ‘holy shit Salem’s in the room’ but that faded as soon as she had the chance to really look at the girl. She was maybe a year older than Emerald. Maybe. It was hard to tell what with the red eyes and dark, protruding veins and hair that was so black it seemed to absorb all the light around it. She wore a simple robe, almost a bathrobe that covered her from neck to ankles and left everything to the imagination. That, and one arm of the robe was flopping uselessly at her side.

“H-hi!” Emerald said, her voice only half an octave away from a squeak.

She expected Mercury to snicker at her about it but his sense of self-preservation was too well honed for that.

Too bad.

The younger, thinner version of Salem met Emerald’s eyes and blinked slowly. “Hello.”

“Hey there, sweetheart, you, uh, kinda surprised us,” Mercury said.

Emerald crossed her fingers and hoped that she tore his head off for the comment. And that she spared her afterwards. But, her luck being what it was, the girl just turned her stare towards Mercury, eyed him up and down like a prime piece of roadkill and scoffed. “Then you should have been paying more attention.”

She... had been paying attention. That’s why the girl talking had surprised her and probably Mercury too. “Must have been distracted,” Mercury said with an easy-going smile.

The girl seemed to accept that with a shrug. “What are your names? And what are you doing here?”

“I’m Emerald, Emerald Sustrai. The doofus is Mercury Black. Please pretend he’s mute. It makes life easier for all of us,” she said while focusing all of her attention on the girl’s features. Seeing how someone took a joke told you a lot about them.

Things like whether or not they would disembowel you on a whim.

“Hello, Emerald and Mercury. You can call me Akelarre,” the girl--Akelarre, apparently--said.

“Ah, pleased to meet you,” she replied.

“Yeah, real pleasure,” Mercury said.

Akelarre stared at Emerald. Emerald stared back. The unblinking, unflinching red eyes were locked onto hers and even when Emerald felt the first beads of sweat trickling down her back and the first quiet minute ticked by the stare never ceased. She wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence, but nothing was coming and Akelarre just wouldn’t. Stop. Staring.

Then, from the girl’s hair, came an almost mechanical movement, eight legs moving with stop-motion actions, unfolding to reveal a spider with Grimm markings the size of Emerald’s spread hand that slowly, carefully, crawled across Arelarre’s face and tucked itself away in the collar of her robe where it started to nuzzle her.

Ozpin’s saggy nutsack the girl was insane. “A-are you okay?” Emerald asked. She sounded faint. She felt faint. She wondered if she was going to faint.

“I was waiting for you to tell me why you were here.”

She could do that. Emerald had all the equipment and information necessary to tell the creepy Grimm girl everything she needed to know. “We’re with Cinder,” she said, and instantly a weight lifted itself off her shoulders. Cinder was important, and if they were with Cinder no one would eat them.

“Who is Cinder?”

Emerald was on the fence. On the one hand, this girl didn’t know who Cinder was and that was awful. On the other, she didn’t know who Cinder was and might be tempted to take a nibble out of Emerald.

“Cinder’s our boss. She’s off meeting with Salem,” Mercury said.

“Oh,” Akelarre said. “That makes sense.”

“So, who’re you?” Mercury asked.

Akelarre turned towards him and seemed to consider the question for a moment. “I am Akelarre,” she finally said. “I’m like Salem. But I like bugs more. Do you like bugs?”

Emerald and Mercury’s eyes met. They had never agreed on anything, ever. Sure, half the time that was them being assholes at each other but the point stood. “We love bugs,” Emerald said with a smile that hurt her cheeks.

“Totally,” Mercury added.

“Oh, that’s good,” Akelarre said. “Look.” She pointed to the ceiling.

Emerald didn’t want to look. She’d once seen a Bullhead crash. Well, she’d caused it because Cinder had asked, but the point stood, she had seen a crash, and the memory was still fresh and vivid in her mind years later. She had a premonition that if she looked up the same kind of memory-scarring event would happen again.

Swallowing, she slowly tilted her head back and locked her chest in place to avoid screaming.

Bugs. A swarm of thousands of chitinous insectile Grimm moving in perfect geometric patterns that overlapped like a tightly woven rug. And in the centre of it an opening in which a few spiders, lancers, and what looked like butterflies made of childhood nightmares were forming the word ‘hello’ next to a smiling face whose mouth was made from the carapace of a five-foot-long centipede-like Grimm, whos overlapping legs formed jaws full of needle-like fangs.

Emerald was very proud when Mercury was the first to start screaming.

***

Akelarre cuddled her current favourite spider closer to her chest while the two people she’d just met continued screaming. Not even dispersing her swarm and tucking all of it away and out of sight really helped. In fact, having twice their combined body mass of insectile Grimm suddenly fade away into the darkness seemed to make the two of them more nervous, not less.

It was really quite traumatic all around. People were not like her insects. It took a lot more work to make them not be afraid and be nice to her. She vaguely recalled not being very good socially, and even remembered a few other occasions where people had similar reactions to her friends. She had hoped it would be different, but she was wrong.

She watched as they scrambled towards the door, kicking and punching to be the first one out of the room while she was left behind.

“It was... enjoyable meeting you. Goodbye,” she said to their retreating backs.

She tracked them for a while thanks to the Grimm ticks she’d placed all over their bodies, but they didn’t seem to be heading anywhere interesting, just out the side of the spire and back towards their ship.

Shrugging to herself and her swarm, Akelarre moved out of the room and made her way towards the throne room. It was relatively close, and Salem, at least, had never denied her a conversation before.

The doors to the throne room, two massive pillars of stone, moved as Akelarre shouldered them aside. As her bugs had told her, the room was empty except for a young woman, presumably Cinder, and Salem, who was seated on her throne and looking right at her.

“Is something wrong, Akelarre?” Salem asked.

Akelarre paused and gave the question some thought. Yes, things were wrong. She was disappointed and a little saddened. It was why she had come to Salem. “Yes,” she said as she started to cross the room.

The Cinder girl looked to be about her age, with beautiful hair that tumbled down to the small of her back and a lithe but full body that barely fit into the dress she was wearing. Akelarre couldn’t remember seeing many women, but she knew at a glance that Cinder was spectacularly beautiful. “Hello, Cinder,” she said as she walked past the woman.

“Hello?” Cinder said automatically from where she was on the ground on one knee.

Akelarre continued walking until she reached Salem’s throne. She paused, looking for somewhere else to sit, but finding none with either her eyes or that of the swarm, she moved closer and climbed onto the arm of the throne next to Salem. “What happened?” Salem asked.

She felt Salem’s unusually warm hand land on her back and start to brush long fingers through her hair. “I met two new people. They said they were with Cinder. They said they liked insects but they were lying.” She frowned a little at the still-fresh memory. “They ran away.”

“I see,” Salem said. Her gaze shifted onto Cinder. “Do you have anything to say in defence of your minions?”

“I, my queen, please, forgive me,” Cinder bowed at the waist. “I will see them punished for their actions against... Akelarre.”

Akelarre looked up to the ceiling where her swarm was gathering, then shook her head. “No, it’s okay,” she said. “It was my fault. I showed them too many bugs.”

Salem’s lips twisted at the corner for just a moment before her flat expression returned. “Well well, Cinder, it seems that Akelarre’s mercy will spare you the trouble of punishing your subordinates.”

“I... see, thank you Miss Akelarre,” Cinder said. Akelarre detected a faint hint of confusion in the pretty woman’s voice but let it go.

“It’s okay. It was my fault,” she repeated before examining Cinder closer. “Salem?”

“Yes?” Salem asked.

“Who is she?”

Salem made that laughing noise at the back of her throat again. “She is a subordinate of mine. Her name is Cinder Fall. She is quite... useful.”

“Is she like your Grimm or my Swarm?” she asked.

“Not quite. She can go places and do things that my Grimm cannot.”

Akelarre nodded. That made sense. “So she’s not as expendable. That’s nice.” Cinder seemed to tense up at that but didn’t comment. “Are you using her right now?”

“I am,” Salem said. “I’m giving her a very important mission.”

“What is it?”

Salem looked away for a moment, eyes clouding over in the way that they did when she was thinking. Akelarre gave her all the time she needed, though after a moment Cinder looked ready to start fidgeting. She couldn’t see it, but the Grimm mites on Cinder’s body could feel the gathering tension in her muscles. “There are four relics hidden across the world of Remnant,” Salem said with the tone Akelarre had come to associate with storytelling. “To obtain them, you need the power of a maiden, one for each relic. Cinder is going to find one of these wayward maidens and hunt her down.”

“Oh. Can I help?” Akelarre asked.

“No, this mission is Cinder’s. It is her opportunity to prove herself.”

Akelarre nodded and jumped off the arm of Salem’s throne with a dainty hop. “Okay. I’m tired now. Goodbye, Salem. Goodbye, Cinder. And good luck.”

“Thank you,” Cinder said immediately.

As she crossed the girl on her path to the doors of the throne room, Akelarre felt the slightest shiver run across her body.

Perhaps Cinder was tired too?

She was already out of the throne room when she realized that she missed her opportunity to show Cinder her bugs.

But there would always be another time.

***

New canon: The only insects Taylor can’t control are social butterflies.

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (except for eschwartz), but I like you anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four 

There was another new person in the spire.

It had been some time since she’d had anything to do but wander the halls and sometimes visit the library. For all that Salem’s collection of books was vast the subject matter was often dull. Genealogies and histories of a past she had no connection to were not much to her liking.

So she stood up from her place next to the pool of darkness in the basement and started making her way up the stairs. At least the constant walking was getting her in shape. Whatever lingering pain she had felt before was gone now. She was like a taut spring, ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice.

If only there was something to jump into.

She was going to have to talk to Salem about it.

The man was kneeling in the throne room, near the place where Cinder had rested just a few days ago. He was bowing forwards, head almost on the ground while Salem took her place on her throne.

Akelarre slid into the room with only the gentle murmur of her robes shifting to signal her presence, but that was enough for the man.

He jumped to his feet and moved backwards, placing himself between Salem and Akelarre, both hands raised in what she recognized as a fighting stance. He was huge. A slab of meat with shoulders twice as broad as Akelarre’s, and he towered above her even from across the room. “My queen, is this young woman an intruder?”

“If I were an intruder I would not last very long, I think,” she said.

“Perhaps you are right. I’m afraid that that is not enough for me to dismiss you as a threat.”

“Hazel,” Salem said. Her voice was even and measured. If it were not for all the time she spent speaking to the queen of the Grimm then perhaps Akelarre wouldn’t have noticed the edge of amusement in her tone. “She is a guest. Please treat her with respect.”

The man, Hazel, stood a little taller and ran a hand through his coarse beard. “Of course, my queen. Forgive me,” he said. His eyes narrowed as she moved out of the shadow of the doorway and into the red lantern light of the throne room. Then they widened.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hazel,” she said.

“My lady Salem,” he said. “Do you perhaps have a daughter?”

“She is not my child,” Salem said, though there wasn’t any accusation in the words, just a statement of fact. “Akelarre is a... surprise. An enemy of an old foe who resurfaced, quite literally, just recently. She had been in my care ever since.” Salem leaned back into her throne before gesturing Akelarre closer. “Come. I have been meaning to give you something, Akelarre, and with Hazel here there is no better time.”

Curiosity pushing her forwards. She walked over to where Salem was waiting, then sat on the arm of the throne when Salem patted it. She looked down when the woman started to peel the robe from off her back.

The warm air of the room brushed over her naked chest but she felt no discomfort. Hazel averted his gaze politely. “What did you want to give me?” she asked Salem. Perhaps it was a new robe?

A pair of Grimm Seers flew into the room, their tentacles wrapped around an oblong black object. “I have been considering giving you something like this for some time,” Salem said. “Do not think that I did not notice your wandering. I suspect that you will soon extend your explorations to beyond the Spire. It would not do for you to do so with only one arm.”

The Seers stopped next to Salem and Akelarre was able to make out the object in their grip. It was, as Salem had said, an arm. Pitch black with a bony elbow, forearm shaped like bones with a gap between them, and fingers that ended in claws of the same bone-like material that she recognized from so many Grimm.

“It’s very pretty,” Akelarre said.

Salem made a noise at the back of her throat, her happy sound. “Thank you,” she said as she took hold of the arm with the ease of someone lifting a stick. She pressed it against Akelarre’s stump, the shadowy flesh flowing over the girl's severed elbow, halfway up to her shoulder. “This will hurt,” she warned.

Akelarre just nodded.

Salem was right; it hurt quite a bit, like someone had dunked her arm in acid. Her spine stiffened and she gasped before feeling a most particular sensation along her side, as though she had a limb that had fallen asleep and was regaining its circulation with agonizing slowness.

Then she felt it bite into her. Pure hate for every living soul. Without thought or reason. It hated her, and it wanted to consume her, to burn her soul out and make her body its puppet. The arm on the end of her stump writhed, becoming more monstrous, the palm snapping around to face her as a single eye opened on its palm, a white mask surfacing around it.

It wasn't part of her swarm, she couldn't control it that way. But it was a part of her now, she could feel it and the danger it posed. So Akelarre did what came naturally. She leaned on it. Her memories were murky, but the weight of them was undiminished. Pain, sacrifice and control. Millions at her command. Her will rolled over the Grimm attached to her body like a boulder rolling over a bug.

An instant later the arm snapped into a human shape. A perfect mirror of her real one. One white, one black. She moved her new arm, inspecting the bone-tipped fingers then moving the hand to grip the empty air. She turned it over and with a push of intent, white bone plates surfaced out of the black, forming an insectile carapace, while the nails lengthened and thickened into rending claws.

Releasing the change and letting it go back to normal, she looked over to Salem. “Thank you.”

Salem nodded. “You are welcome, of course. Did you wish to try your luck against Hazel? He is a very capable fighter. He won’t injure you, right, Hazel?”

“No ma’am.” His gaze locked onto Akelarre’s. “I would be honoured to teach you how to better defend yourself.” His smile grew a little more eager when Akelarre jumped off the throne’s arm and moved towards him.

“You are very tall,” she said matter-of-factly. “And you seem strong. Fighting you would be difficult.”

He nodded once. “You have already learned one of the most important lessons of combat, it seems; knowing when to cut your losses. If my queen wishes for me to teach you, then I suspect it will be a very interesting endeavor.”

“Indeed,” Salem said. “Akelarre here seems to have grown weary of my company. Some training would serve as both entertainment and to help her improve her fighting abilities, if she ever needs them. But that will be for another time. Hazel, please take the night to prepare for Akelarre’s training regimen.”

He bowed at the waist to Salem, then did the same to Akelarre, though not nearly as deeply. “Of course, ma’am. Miss Akelarre, it was a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to working together.” With a snap of heel on heel he turned around and walked towards the exit.

Akelarre eyed him as he moved away, then turned back towards Salem when he was gone. “You said I could go out exploring?” she said.

“You are not beholden to me,” Salem replied. “Come. Dinner will be served soon.” She began to walk towards the back of the room where a smaller doorway led into one of the many maze-like corridors of the Spire.

Akelarre followed behind her and soon caught up enough to walk by Salem’s side. “Thanks for the arm,” she said as she looked down at the new limb. Her fingers felt a little stiff, but also much stronger than her natural arm. It was going to take some getting used to.

“You thanked me already.”

Akelarre looked up to her, then back down. “Thanks anyway.”

Salem didn’t say anything, but there was an air of self-satisfaction to her as she walked into the dining room and marched to the far end of the massive table that took up a disproportionate amount of space in the room. She sat at the head of the table, then gestured at the far end where another place setting waited.

Akelarre looked at the empty plate and utensils that were obviously meant for her, then all the way across to where Salem was sitting. She let a few of her bugs slip out from her robes and hair and from the ceiling where they always waited.

One of Salem’s eyebrows perked as the creatures pulled the plates and forks and knives along, scraping them on the marble slab until they were placed just to her right. Akelarre pulled the seat next to Salem back and sat down.

Salem’s eyebrow remained where it was, almost hidden in her hairline as Akelarre shuffled in her seat and wondered if she did something wrong. Then Salem relaxed and clapped her hands lightly.

“I hope you don’t mind, but the meal tonight is nothing too terribly complicated,” she said as a group of Seers slipped into the room carrying trays covered with silver domes.  
One of the Seers places a tray before Akalarre’s setting and pulled the bell away to reveal a sort of meaty pasta dish covered in a layer of golden-brown cheese.

There was no waiting or signal. Salem dug into her meal with careful motions and Akelarre did the same. “So,” Salem said as she swirled a crystal cup full of crimson-red wine. “What are your intentions for the near future?”

Akelarre didn’t have to think on it for very long. “I would like to explore around the Spire a little. Maybe see places where there are humans?” She knew that there were still pockets of civilization around. Salem goal wasn’t the destruction of all life, so she allowed small settlements to grow and flourish for a time before letting her Grimm remove them. Like a gardener pruning a lawn.

“Hm.” Salem said as she took another bite. “There are nomadic tribes that travel close to the Land of Darkness. They are a cunning bunch, tough and generally generous with those they encounter in need of aid. I have used them before. When resources grow scarce they can become desperate. They make for good followers. A few settlements still exist near the shores. Though those are mostly made up of... well I suppose you would call them cultists.”

“Are there any cities around?” Akelarre asked.

“None very close. Crucible, the content on which we are, is isolated from most of the inhabited world. The nearest large settlement would be... Patch, to the south-east. You would need to travel across a great distance by sea to reach it,” she said before turning to one of her Seers. “Fetch me a map.”

The Grimm bobbed once before turning and moving out of the room. “I don’t think I can travel far over water,” Akelarre said. “I’ll need to make bigger fliers.”

“I’ll let you ride atop a Leviathan if you wish. My Grimm will do you no harm. The only danger you may face will be natural and on account of humanity.”

Akelarre nodded. She could feel a smile tugging at her lips at the idea of moving around and exploring the world at large. “And if I return, will there still be a place for me here?” Akelarre bit her lip, but stopped as soon as she saw Salem’s eyes straying to them.

Salem paused with her fork raised, then lowered it to her plate. She looked up, red eyes meeting red for a long moment. The queen of the Grimm was the first to break the eye contact. “These past few months with you have been quite enjoyable; though you have been a quiet presence you were not an unwelcome one. It feels, perhaps unfairly, as though I have a daughter again.”

A weight settled into Akelarre’s stomach and she floundered, uncertain of what to do at that. Slowly, carefully, she reached out and touched the hand Salem wasn’t using, cool fingers wrapping around cool skin. “I don’t think I’ve had a mother in a long time,” Akelarre said. “But, but if I did, I hope she would have been like you. I’m pretty sure you’re not my mother, but if you want to be... a friend, then I would really like that.” She grinned at Salem.

The woman returned the grin with a demure smile. “I suspect that I would enjoy that.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (except for eschwartz), but I like you anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Five

This chapter to dedicated to Askasknot as a thank you for his marvelous artwork! Seriously, go check it out! 

***

She was ready. Or as ready as she thought she could be.

Akelarre had taken a few days to prepare her first excursion out of the Grimmlands and towards civilisation. She had underestimated how much work it would be, but not too badly.

The time was spent talking to Salem, who seemed more open about the dangers of the world beyond her immediate domain, or training with Hazel, who mostly allowed her to use him as a very large punching bag to practice on while giving her some pointers.

He was a surprisingly gentle coach for someone so intimidatingly large.

Then Salem had taken her aside to find her something appropriate to wear when near civilisation. She did not enjoy being used as a living doll for Salem, who forced her to try on hundreds of dresses and uniforms and gowns, some of which looked to be hundreds of years old.

She endured it though, because for a moment Salem’s face relaxed and there was even a small smile at the corners of the queen’s lips as she pushed Akelarre into another outfit.

She did come across the idea of making her own costume out of Grimm spider silk, but the project was moving too slowly for her tastes. She left some Grimm spiders spooling silk and picked a more practical outfit, much to Salem’s disapproval.

Simple black pants, a crisp blouse that flared out at the cuffs and hem, and a cloak with a hood deep enough to cover her features. It would do.

Salem insisted that she also bring a long black scarf and some leather gloves to further conceal her identity and to keep warm if the temperature dropped.

Other than that, her time had been spent a little more productively than before as she created more Grimm arthropods, focusing on those that could keep up with her Alpha Lancer mount.

All that preparation was for the moment when she stepped out of the front gate of the Spire and found herself pulling down her scarf to breath in the morning air of the outside world for the first time in her living memory.

“Akelarre,” a familiar voice said from behind her.

She paused and turned around. The queen stood tall and proud by the gates of her castle, though for all that her features were stern and regal, there was an edge of worry in her gaze.

“Did you come to say goodbye?” she asked.

“I came to make sure you would return,” Salem said.

Akelarre nodded. It was an easy promise to make. “I will.”

Salem approached her, and for a moment she thought the woman might hug her, but Salem just brought a hand up and placed it upon Akelarre’s head. “You recall what I told you about the Auras hunters use to combat my Grimm?” she asked.

“I do.”

Salem’s hands moved, one going to her shoulders to hold her in place, the other flat on her chest right above her beating heart. Every Grimm across the broken plains stilled and grew quiet. The wind stopped. The world hushed.

Salem nodded, then, with a deep breath, she intoned, “Through defeat, immortality; through persistence, victory. And through victory the chains of gods shall break. We are the will of the world. Infinite in potential and unbound by fleeting humanity, I liberate your soul, and by my hand free thee.”

Warmth, not painful or fleeting, but a constant heartbeat-thrum of gentle warmth, coursed through her body and filled her mind with a gentle caress. She felt lighter, stronger. She felt as though anything were possible even as the words Salem had spoken resonated within her.

She looked down at her one true hand, felt the aura of strength still and passive but present just under the surface, and looked up once more. “Thank you,” she said.

Salem looked away. “I merely wish for you to be safe. It would be unfair of me to request a promise of you and not make it so that you can accomplish it. I wish you well on your travels, Akalerre.”

Akelarre took a step forward, cutting the distance between them to nothing until she was pressed up against Salem, then she wrapped her arms around the queen of the Grimm and held her tight. “Thank you.” Salem was a little wide-eyed when she let go and pulled back. “Taylor,” she said.

“Pardon?”

“My name. I remember it, I think. It’s Taylor.”

Salem’s gaze softened from obsidian to marble. “No. You will always be Akelarre here.”

She smiled at the queen, took a few steps back, then called upon one of her bigger Grimm insects to land near her. It was only the work of a moment to hop onto her Alpha Lancer’s back and hang onto its simplistic saddle. “I’ll see you soon,” she said as the massive insect kicked off.

She almost didn’t hear Salem’s goodbye.

***

She watched Akelarre, Taylor, fly away until all that was left was a few specks of the girl-child’s massive swarm buzzing towards the horizon.

And even when she finally lost sight of her, the warmth of the younger girl’s body pressed against hers was still like a searing needle pressed against her soul.

“Come back,” she ordered the morning sky. “Come back alive.”

***

Seeing the Grimmlands from high above had been interesting for a few moments. The ground around Salem’s Spire was mostly flat but farther out the ground turned craggy and massive pillars of stone that stretched across the landscape like the ribs of a gigantic beast.

If she thought the travelling would be amusing then she was quickly robbed of the idea. Yes, seeing new sights was entertaining, but no more so than looking at the images in one of Salem’s books.

Her imagination, the frigid air and the constant thumm of her Lancer’s wings were the only things keeping her company.

It took less than an hour for her to begin reconsidering the voyage.

She could have turned around, returned to Salem’s side and continued with her days filled with quiet meditation, long hours of experimentation with her Grimm and deep conversations with Salem, but that felt like giving up.

Her memories were still fuzzy, still a garbled mess, but for all that she knew that she was not the sort of woman to give up so easily.

The divide between the Land of Darkness and the ocean was as sudden as a drop off the edge of a cliff.

The rocky soil below was traded for churning waters, then, when she flew deeper away towards the horizon even that was replaced by soothing blue as far as her eyes could see.

Sometimes the form of a Leviathan or other aquatic Grimm would move under the waves, or she would see some of the more natural creatures native to Remnant moving in great schools near the surface.

She leaned into her Alpha Lancer’s back and closed her eyes. It was warm.

She still had a ways to go.

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway.

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that Eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Six

“Coco, we’re going to be late,” Velvet said. It wasn’t a whine, because whining was bad and Coco got really annoying when she thought Velvet was whining about something. Not that it would stop Coco from whining about literally anything at all.

The rules that applied to everyone did not apply to Coco Adel. That was the very first thing that Velvet learned when she met her partner’s eyes in that forest all of a month ago.

Coco sighed, adjusted Velvet’s beret (which was still sitting atop her head and which she refused to give back) and pushed her glasses back up her nose with a forefinger. “Bun Bun, it is vitally important that we present ourselves the right way,” she said while gesturing at her reflection in the window of a bakery. “Our client expects the best, so we need to look the part.” She glanced over at the two boys in the group. Fox’s hair was a dishevelled mess, red curls poking out in every direction, and Yatsuhashi’s combat suit was splattered in mud up to his shins. “Okay, so maybe I’m the one that has to look presentable. To make up for the rest of my lovely team.”

“Coco,” Velvet said for the millionth time. She could feel her long ears drooping, more so when she noticed all the people staring at their team. This wasn’t Vale, so the streets weren’t exactly packed, but they still stood out a lot.

Her team’s first mission, an event that was supposed to be super important in building bonds and teaching them how to work together--at least according to Miss Goodwitch--wasn’t going so well.

It wasn’t that they didn’t work well together. Coco was a great fighter and a really cool leader, the kind of person Velvet wished she could be. The boys were also pretty great, if a little too macho for her tastes. Fox was like a cool older brother, and he was a spectacular fighter even with his disability, while Yatsuhashi was a little strange, but not in a bad way.

No, that wasn’t it. The problem was probably Velvet herself. She... she wasn’t sure she was cut out for the life of a Huntress. Most of their sparring ended with her on the mat, even when the others went easy on her, and while her team was made up of the most awesome people, some of the other students weren’t so nice.

But then, they were far, far away from Beacon right now, out on their first ever real mission. A mission that was supposed to be led by Professor Peach. A mission that was supposed to be fairly easy and straightforward. A mission that they were going to fail before it even really began if Coco didn’t stop preening before the bakery window.

“What’s she doing?” Fox asked, one eyebrow perked as he faced more or less the direction where Coco was trying to arrange her combat dress so that it was perfectly stylish. She was wearing a beige and brown ensemble today, to better stick out from the trees or something.

“She is attempting to make herself more presentable,” Yatsu said. “Not that there is any need for such.”

“Not just presentable,” Coco said, and Velvet could hear the amusement in her voice. “I’m trying to look fashionable."

“Aren’t we in Patch?” Fox said. He turned his head left and right as if that would help him narrow down where he was.

Velvet had to agree with the sentiment. She was all for looking cute--though not to the extent that Coco was--but their mission was going to take place in the forests around a tiny settlement. It was hardly worth being all prettied up for it. Also, the people of Patch were mostly down to earth and they probably didn’t know how to appreciate Coco’s fashion sense.

Fox sighed. “C’mon Coco, you already look beautiful, let’s just go?”

“How would you know that I’m hot?” Coco asked. Her glasses slid down her nose so that she could pierce their teammate with a look. Velvet swore she was going to learn how Coco did that one day.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Yatsu said, sounding very wise until he noticed his mistake. “Or, er-, I mean beauty cannot be judged objectively, for what one person finds beautiful or admirable may not appeal to another.”

“Nice save,” Fox said, his blank eyes rolling. “And I never said you were hot,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but I still am,” Coco said as she finally abandoned her spot by the window and sashayed past Velvet and Fox. “C’mon, we’re going to be late.”

“I’ve been saying that the whole time,” Velvet said as she jogged to catch up to Coco. The sparse crowds on the sidewalk moved aside as Coco approached and she saw more than one young man give Coco a double or triple take.

She felt her cheeks warming as a few glanced her way, that was, until Yatsu moved up between the leers like a tall imposing wall of beefcake that happened to carry a sword. The staring stopped.

“So with whom shall we meet?” Yatsu asked.

Coco gestured a ways down the street to a tall brick building with a big clock tower on its side. It looked imposing, all grey and dark and old. It was pretty obvious that the building predated the Colour Revolution by quite some time. “The mayor.”

“The mayor?” Velvet squeaked.

Just by the way Coco moved her head, Velvet knew that she’d rolled her eyes. “Yeah. We’re not meeting the council, Bun, just the mayor of this backwater, no need to get your lacy underwear in a knot.”

“I don’t think we had to know that,” Fox said.

“Know that we were meeting the mayor?” Yatsu asked.

“That Velvet’s underthings are lacy,” he clarified.

“I was trying to give you a way out,” Yatsu said.

Coco snorted. “Poor Fox, the only way he’d ever learn about the laciness of Velvet’s underwear is if he felt them up.”

“Coco!” Velvet screamed. She felt lightheaded and just knew that she was burning up.

Coco’s laughter echoed down the street, boisterous and loud. She slowed down just enough to wrap an arm around Velvet’s shoulders. “Poor Velvet, I’m sorry. And I’m sorry for you too, Fox, you don't know what you’re missing. Bun Bun’s got buns.”

“Coco,” Velvet repeated, though this time it was more of a whimper. It only got worse when Yatsu made a noise that could only be an agreement. She turned blazing eyes on him, containing all of the fiery anger of a candle in a rainstorm. “Not you too!”

Yatsu at least had the good grace to look sheepish.

Her further mortification was saved when they reached the big building that turned out to be the town hall and were ushered to the mayor’s office.

There were two people in the room. One was a shorter woman that looked a bit like Glynda Goodwitch, though much softer and not nearly as stern. The plaque on her desk read ‘Mayor Grey’ in bold letters. The other was a middle aged man with a beige shirt and cargo shorts. He smiled at them, revealing perfect teeth and a pair of startling blue eyes that were both amused and encouraging.

“Ah, you must be the team from Beacon,” the mayor said. “I’m Danielle Grey, mayor of Patch, and this gentleman is Taiyang Xiao Long from Signal.”

“Hello, kids,” Taiyang said.

Velvet felt her blush returning as he gave them all a warm, welcoming look. She tried to slide behind Coco to hide a little.

Then Coco ruined her plans. “Damn. I wouldn’t mind you teaching me a thing or two,” she said as she ogled the man up and down.

Both Yatsu and Fox pressed their hands against their faces, but Mister Xiao Long just burst out laughing. “Oh, you remind me of my daughter!” he said.

Coco’s next words, whatever they might have been, came out as a sputtering cough and she gave the man the kind of look Velvet had seen wet cats give to the hose that had splashed them.

The mayor gave them a smug if rather flat look. “Yes, we’re all very fortunate to have Mr. Xiao Long here. Now, I for one have things to take care of. Shall we get to business?”

“Yes please,” Velvet said for the group since Coco was still sputtering.

The Mayor reached across her desk and tapped a pile of papers with one manicured finger. “We have been receiving reports of... strange Grimm sightings deeper in the forests across town. As you may be aware, Patch is a relatively small community, and as such we don’t have the same infrastructure as, say, Vale. Our walls are small and half of our citizens live outside of the city proper. Most can hold off against a single Beowolf and the island is well patrolled. We don’t usually have too much trouble. A few deaths every year, but that’s life on the frontier.”

“But these new Grimm are changing that,” Yatsu said.

The mayor nodded. “Exactly.”

“Grimm,” Mr. Xiao Long started. “All Grimm have unique ways of fighting. Usually we see Beowolves and the occasional Ursa. Folks around here can handle themselves well enough. A decent rifle with some dust rounds will do the trick, and Signal, that’s the school I work at, often has groups of older students go out on patrols around Patch. If a bigger group is spotted an actual Huntsman will get rid of it. That has worked for such a long time because we all know how to deal with the Grimm that are there. These new sightings, on the other hand...”

“So you need us to capture them?” Coco asked. “You want to study these new Grimm, or just confirm what sort of Grimm they are?”

“Clever girl. But no. Capturing a Grimm, even a smaller one, isn’t something I would want to leave to a group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training.” He smiled as though to soften the blow to their pride. “If they are a known type of Grimm then we might be dealing with a migration. But if they really are new, then we’ll need some images and a good idea of how to handle them in the field. That’s where you come in.”

“I’m assuming,” Yatsu said, “that these Grimm aren’t widespread?”

The mayor nodded. “Most sightings have been to the northwest, in the more forested areas.”

“I was told that one of you has experience with photography?” Mr. Xiao Long said.

Velvet realised that he meant her and she raised her hand like a student in a classroom before blushing faintly and lowering the hand. “Um, yes, I do.” She lifted the camera pressed against her chest as though to prove her words.

“Brilliant,” Mr. Xiao Long said while shooting her a wide grin. “Could you take a few pictures for us?”

“C-certainly,” she replied.

“So that’s it?” Coco asked. “Walk around, find some Grimm, take some pictures and maybe kill a few, then come back?”

“That’s the whole of it,” Tai-Yang said.

Coco shifted her hip to one side and grinned. “Sounds easy,” she said.

***

All aboard the HMS Bugs Bunny! All aboard! Destination: Handholdlandia!

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway.

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no waycrazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Seven

Akelarre saw the first signs of land just as the sun started to crawl towards the horizon.

The island below was huge, big enough that even from her vantage she couldn’t see the half of it. Forests with trees covered in a sparse layer of springtime snow were competing for her attention against cliffs that overlooked the ocean’s churning waters and little paths left in the ground by packs of travelling Grimm--and the more common though also more skittish wildlife.

She was perking up, ready to start looking for the first signs of human life, when something caught her eye.

It was a flash of red on green. A tiny figure moving at absurd speeds while a flanking force of black creatures rushed after it.

With a mental command, the swarm around her buzzed to a stop, a hundred Lancers and a few million smaller Grimm bugs tensing up. There was something in the air, something interesting that made her swarm want to dive down and... and kill that red figure.

She held them back, attention dipping to the human girl below as she jumped back, swung around and slashed out with a long polearm, its wicked tip cutting the arm off of a lunging Beowolf a half second before she ducked, fired an explosion that tore apart the chest of another and used the recoil to tear the head off a third.

Akelarre’s eyebrows climbed as she watched the girl pirouette out of the path of more Grimm, dancing out of their way only to cut at them with wide, sweeping motions that tore the Grimm apart like chaff.

She was keeping them away, always moving out of the path of the Grimm and sending probing shots into the pack that would tear the heads and bodies of the Grimm apart, forcing them to rush over the fallen to get to her.

It was the work of only a few moments to have some of her smaller Grimm tumble down to the ground and land on her cloak. They scuttled across her body even as she ducked under a wild swipe, grit her teeth and shifted out of the path of another claw that was racing towards her head.

The Grimm were circling, and while Akelarre doubted the girl would be unable to escape, it was clear that that wasn’t her goal. At the speed she moved it would have been simplicity itself for her to rush into the forest and lose her opponents. Instead she stood her ground, almost taunting the Grimm as she took potshots into the pack.

She should have moved on, or at best spied on the girl for some time. Salem had warned her about Huntsmen and how dangerous they could be; seeing the girl in action, she could understand why. “Mover, Blaster, Brute,” she said to no one, the words having been on the edge of her lips the entire time she watched the fight.

She wanted to help.

***

That, Ruby decided, was a lot of Beowolves.

She narrowed her eyes, pulled the bolt back on Crescent Rose and prepared herself for another charge at the pack. She didn’t have forever to practice. If she didn’t end this battle in the next half hour she wouldn’t have time to visit Summer's grave and make it back home before dad and Yang started to worry.

Her heart was beating hummingbird fast and despite the chill in the air she was warm and sweaty under her combat uniform.

One of the Beowolves growled, glowing red eyes locking on hers.

She smiled, her legs tensed, her breath filling her lungs with quick, excited gasps, her eyes searching for the optimal target. She was ready.

With a blast from her baby to propel her forwards, Ruby cut the distance between herself and the nearest Beowolf, then spun in mid-air to bring Crescent Rose’s blade around in a lethal arc. The Beowolf didn’t stand a chance.

“Need help?”

“Eeep!”

Ruby didn’t squeak. Squeaking would have been embarassing and just plain mortifying. She knew, because the last time she didn’t squeak Yang had pinched her cheeks and cooed for, like, an hour.

Spinning around and bringing Crescent Rose to a stop next to her, she faced off against the mysterious lady with the mysterious and totally creepy ability to--mysteriously--sneak up on her.

She didn’t see any weapons on the woman, but her cloak could be hiding all sorts of goodies. Ruby was starting to get a little excited at the idea of fighting next to an actual, bonafide Huntress. She was about to ask and introduce herself when the hot breath of one beast along the back of her neck reminded her that she had some Grimm to take care of.  
The Huntress grabbed Ruby’s wrist and flung her behind her. Ruby caught a flash of something white and a Beowolf fell to the ground missing its head. “I’m sorry.” she said while facing the dead Grimm.

Ruby rubbed at her sore wrist. “R-right!” she called back as she spun around and tried to regain some of her previous momentum. Uncle Qrow always told her that stopping in the middle of a fight was a good way to lose more than her head.

“Duck,” the woman called.

Ruby took a half-second to figure out what the woman meant, but she obeyed in time to avoid a black thing that whipped above her fast enough that it hissed through the air. Grimm blood splashed onto her, almost instantly turning into little black plumes and fading away.

That took care of the Beowolves nearest to them (and Ruby was so totally going to gush over whatever that weapon was later) but it still left a few dozen to go. “I’ve got them!” she said.

She was still getting the hang of her semblance, but for something like moving in a straight line towards a large pack of Grimm there was nothing better. Crescent Rose sang as she spun through the pack, arms and legs and heads flying all over while the occasional echoing retort shot her forwards even faster.

Her feet slid across the ground and she brought Crescent Rose to a rest along her back while, on the path she’d travelled, a dozen Grimm faded into motes of black dust.

“You fight well,” the Huntress said as she started walking towards Ruby.

She was tall, a whole lot taller than Ruby and a bit taller than Yang, with a rather flat chest (score!) hidden under a cloak that was almost as cool as Ruby’s. What little Ruby could see of her skin from under her hood was super pale, like someone who spent too much time indoors or maybe the few people from Atlas she’d seen, but most people from Atlas wouldn’t tattoo their faces like this lady did. She had red eyes that glowed faintly within her hood. Kinda like Yang’s when she was using her semblance, actually.

The woman moved her arm up, revealing that it was covered in a sort of white armour that turned into a wicked-sharp blade aligned with her wrist. Then the armour shifted and with an almost liquid-like motion the entire thing transformed into a perfectly ordinary black hand. “So cool,” Ruby whispered.

That had to be some sort of mechashift, and the really good kind if the motions were so smooth. Maybe the attack earlier had come from the hand too. Maybe it had a concealed gun, or could turn into a flail? Ruby wondered if her dad would be angry if she replaced all her limbs with mechashift weapons.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your fight,” the Huntress said.

Ruby waved both arms dismissively, “N-no no, it’s okay. No one was hurt and the Grimm are all dead. So it turned out for the best.” She grinned at the woman. “So, why are you here?”

***

Akelarre tried to decide how to answer the question. She couldn’t say that she was here because she wanted to meet a human, that would probably have alarm bells ringing in the girl’s mind.

The girl’s casual dismissal of the Grimm she’d just killed rubbed her the wrong way.

Salem would probably not have approved of her talking to the girl, but for all of her prowess with her frankly oversized weapon, Akelarre couldn’t give herself the push to hurt her. Not unless she proved to be a threat.

“Saw you fighting,” she finally said. “I was a little worried. Perhaps for nothing. You’re very... good at killing.”

“What? Pfft,” the girl dismissed even as a dusting of redness climbed onto her cheeks. “Those were just Beowolves. And I got lucky.” Her eyes dipped down to the ground and it didn’t take a genius to see that she wasn’t taking the compliment all that well. She fiddled with her strange weapon, then folded it into a neat box that she tucked under her cloak.

“What are you doing out here?” Akelarre asked. “Is there a settlement nearby?”

“Huh? No, not really. We live nearby.” The girl’s eyes suddenly widened and Akelarre prepared to fight. “I didn’t introduce myself!” she said. “Yang would be so disappointed. I’m Ruby, Ruby Rose.”

Akelarre stared at the hand Ruby extended, then shook it. “Akelarre,” she said. “What were you doing here?”

“Ah,” Ruby said before she looked away. “I’m kinda, sorta not supposed to be here on my own,” she admitted. “But I had a long day at school and I wanted to visit mom.”

“Your mother?” she asked. She couldn’t sense anyone around, and the Lancers she had high above couldn’t see any signs of civilisation.

“Oh, she’s over here,” Ruby said as she slid past her.

Wary for any traps, Akelarre followed a few feet behind the red-cloaked girl as she marched through the mud and snow and early spring grass towards the top of a cliff. There, a plaque waited embedded into the stone.

Summer Rose  
Thus Kindly I Scatter

Akelarre instantly felt out of place. She stood stock still as the girl bent forwards and cleared a bit of snow from the gravestone then gently let her thumb glide over the name. “I come here sometimes, when I’m not feeling so good. It feels nice to talk to her.”

“I... understand,” Akelarre said.

Ruby glanced up and gave her a sad smile. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Me too,” she replied. “How did... no, I’m sorry.”

“She died a hero,” Ruby said, and if her voice sounded a little less exuberant and bubbly than it did before, Akelarre didn’t comment. “She died fighting the Grimm. That’s why I’m going to become a Huntress. To protect people like her from those monsters.”

Akelarre nodded, not that she really agreed with the sentiment, but she could understand it. “I’ll give you a moment.”

“Are you leaving already?” Ruby asked. “Did you have somewhere to go? I can probably guide you. I know all of Patch like the back of my hand!”

She considered it for a moment. “I was just visiting. I wouldn't mind company, but I can wait while you visit your mother.”

Ruby’s smile only grew at her words. “Thanks, Akelarre.”

She moved a good distance away from Ruby, far enough that she couldn’t hear, and pulled away any Grimm bugs that were near Ruby and her mother.

The girl was strange. Strange but nice. And strong too. If every person on Remnant was as strong as Ruby then Salem was going to have a difficult time with her plans for the future. Something told her that wasn’t the case, though.

“All done!” Ruby said as she popped back towards Akelarre, a scattering of rose petals falling in her wake. Strange. Probably a side effect of her Mover ability. “So, were you going somewhere special?”

“Not really. I’m travelling from elsewhere. I just... wanted to see the sights.”

“Oh, like a vacation?” Ruby asked.

“Yes.”

“Cool!” Ruby said. “So what do you usually do?”

“I work with the Grimm,” Akelarre said truthfully.

There was a gleam in the girl’s eyes as she said, “So you are a Huntress. I knew it! Uncle Qrow said that when you become a strong Huntress you can sense when someone is dangerous just by looking at them. It’s like a sixth sense, but I think it’s mostly because you can recognize their weapons and stances and things. Uncle Qrow also said that all teenage boys are super dangerous but most of those I stared at don’t look like they can fight. Anyway, I saw you and it was like ‘whoa, she’s dangerous’, not, not that it’s a bad thing, or anything.”

“Thank you?” Akelarre said while she tried to parse Ruby’s verbal onslaught.

“Where are you going now? Are you heading towards Patch? My dad works there, at Signal. You know, the combat school.”

“I don’t know. Patch is nearby?” she asked.

“Yup,” Ruby said as she made a huge encompassing gesture with both arms. “It’s a big city right in the middle of the island. It’s kind of a long walk to get there though. How did you arrive here, anyway?”

“I flew.”

Ruby’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. “You can fly? That’s awesome! Is it because of your mechashift arm? Is it a semblance? Do you have a Bullhead?”

Akelarre didn’t know how to reply, or which question she should answer first. “Yes?” she tried.

“You must be, like, super tired.” Ruby tilted her head to one side, looking like a dog trying to figure out a puzzle. “Hey, did you want to come to my place? You could meet Yang and my dad. Yang would be so proud of me if I made a friend all on my own.” Her cheeks gained a faint reddish glow. “N-not that I have trouble making friends or anything.”

“I don’t know,” Akelarre said.

“We have cookies.” Ruby stared at her with bright silver eyes that made Akelarre’s heart tighten.

She sighed, placed a hand on Ruby’s head as though petting a dog, and nodded. “Okay.”

***

Ah ha! You thought it was going to be the bunny, but it was me, Ruby!

All aboard the HMS Escalation Acceleration. Destination; Cookie-and-Nookie-Ville.

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway.

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Eight

Ruby didn’t skip, because she wasn’t twelve, but it was a near thing. The trip from the clearing to her home wasn’t too long, but it was still a good half hour by foot, especially since she couldn’t just use her semblance to zip ahead of Akelarre. 

So it was half an hour of chatting with her mysterious new friend. And she was totally a friend, even if she was older (apparently she was nineteen or twenty, Akelarre wasn’t sure). And Akelarre was totally awesome. She didn’t even complain when Ruby went on a rant about how mechashift weapons were the greatest and how the greatest mechashift weapon was her very own Crescent Rose.

“Ah, here we are,” she said as she shoved open the gate. The Xiao-Long-Rose household was just ahead, visible through the sparse trees and trimmed lawn. All around the house there were little plots of tilled earth with colourful spring flowers that were just starting to bloom. “I live here with my sister and my dad. Dad usually comes home later but Yang might be here now.”

“No one’s home,” Akelarre said. “Just a dog.”

“How did you know?” she asked. “Was it a Semblance? Can you see through walls-” Ruby paused, mid sentence, and with an 'eep' threw her arms across her chest and lap. “Can you see through my clothes?!”

“No.”

Ruby slumped. “Pfew, okay, cool.” She moved to the front door and opened it. “You can come in, if you want.” She took off her hood and placed it on the coat rack next to the door, then rubbed her boots against the mat just inside a few times to get the mud off. Ruby had gotten one splinter too many from the hardwood floor to go around barefoot. “Keep your boots on, it’s okay, I can bro--” Her voice caught in her throat.

Akelarre had lowered her hood, letting the soft white material pool around her neck and freeing a head of hair that was so curly and shiny that it might have made Yang jealous. Those were all the details that she took in at a glance and dismissed almost in the same moment, because the person staring back at her didn’t look all that human.

“Uh,” Ruby said as she took in the black veins around black eyes with red pupils that were locked onto her. “What nice eyes you have,” she said faintly.

“Thank you,” Akelarre said.

Ruby looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen. Her plan had been to raid her cookie stash (because dad’s rules about only having so many cookies a day didn’t count if their guest was having some too, right?) but now she wasn’t so sure. “So, uh, make yourself at home?”

“Thank you,” Akelarre said as she glided over to the couch and sat down. Ruby saw her looking all over, as if every little detail of their living room was new and interesting. “You have a very nice home,” she said.

“Thanks,” Ruby said as she moved towards the seat dad usually used by her dad. She flopped down and stared at Akelarre.

Akelarre stared back, red pinpricks boring into Ruby’s soul until she squirmed on the spot. 

Yang was always going on about making more friends, but her advice was usually about introducing herself, then making small talk. Ruby had already talked about weapons. There wasn’t anything left to talk about. She was starting to wish that Yang was there.

“So, your eyes,” Ruby said. “Uh, is that because of a faunus thing?”

“No.” Akelarre blinked. “It’s because I’m a Grimm. Sorta.”

Ruby was out of her seat in a flash, Crescent Rose extending into its long rifle form and sights pinned over Akelarre’s head in the time it would take a normal person to blink. “Y-you’re a Grimm?” Ruby asked. Her finger hovered over the trigger.

“Yes.” Akelarre looked at Crescent Rose, then back up to Ruby. “You shouldn’t fire a gun inside a house, not unless it’s an emergency. You might break something.”

“I’m pretty sure this counts as an emergency!” Ruby said.

Akelarre sighed, shoulders slumping. “You are not taking this as well as I would have hoped.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re pointing a gun at me,” Akelarre said rather calmly. And compared to every other Grimm Ruby had ever seen that was saying something. “It’s very rude.”

Ruby huffed. “Yeah, well the Grimm aren’t exactly polite, so there.”

Akelarre’s brows drew together. “You killed a lot of Grimm today. That wasn’t very polite either.”

“B-but they were Grimm,” Ruby said. Grimm were for hunting, that’s just how things worked. Everyone at school said they were mindless monsters. “It’s what we’re supposed to do.”

“And the Grimm are supposed to hunt and kill humans. And yet here I am. How would you feel if someone hurt your dog just because they were supposed to?”

“You can’t tell me that Beowolves are like Zwei!” Ruby shouted. 

“How is it any different?” Akelarre asked.

“B-because Zwei never killed anyone’s mom!”

Akelarre went very stiff and Ruby almost pulled the trigger and let fly a heavy armour-piercing round at the Grimm-girl, but then Akelarre looked down and the tension in her shoulders loosened. “I’m sorry,” Akelarre said.

“Are, are you really a Grimm?” Ruby asked again because this flew in the face of everything she’d been taught. 

“Sorta,” Akelarre said. 

“Sorta?”

“Yes.” Akelarre confirmed. She reached under her cloak and Ruby tensed up, then the Grimm-girl pulled out a tiny white thing that fit in the palm of her hand and showed it to Ruby. She looked almost proud. 

“Uh,” Ruby said. “Is that a spider?” she asked.

The thing sitting on Akelarre’s palm raised one tiny white limb and waved. “Yes,” Akelarre said. “He is Mister Spider and he is my favourite.” It was a tone she recognized, that of a proud mommy showing off her baby, and the sparkle of mirth in Akelarre’s eyes seemed genuine. Ruby probably looked the same when she was talking about Crescent Rose. “Mister Spider is my Grimm. I made him. I control him.” The spider started to dance a little jig on her palm.

Ruby lowered Crescent Rose a little. “Why are you here? In Patch, I mean. With... with Mister Spider.”

“I was bored.”

“Bored of killing people wherever you were before?” she asked, eyes narrowing. 

“No. Just normal bored. I never found killing people fun.” Akelarre shrugged on shoulder. “The Grimmlands are kinda quiet. Nothing to do but plot the downfall of humanity or read. I wanted to explore a little.” She brought her hand back and started to run a finger along the back of the spider Grimm’s torso. “You can sit down if you want, I won’t hurt you.”

“And how would I know that?” Ruby asked.

“Because if I wanted to hurt you, I would have already,” Akelarre said. Mister Spider stopped dancing and scuttled up Akelarre’s arm to come to a rest on her head. It looked too silly to be threatening.

Ruby slowly, slowly moved back to her seat and sat down. She kept Crescent Rose deployed across her knees, but didn’t point it at the Grimm girl. “So, are you like, a really old Grimm that grew smart and then turned into a girl after eating a ton of Huntsmen?”

“No. I never ate anyone before.”

Darn, Ruby thought, her Mystrillian cartoons weren’t proving very helpful. “Well what are you, then?”

Akelarre stared off into the distance. “I suppose I’m a sort of Grimm Princess.”

“A princess.” And Yang said she was bad at being deadpan.

Akelarre shrugged. “In the sense that I rule over part of the Grimm, yes.”

“Which part?”

“Arthropods.”

“You mean Grimm bugs?” Ruby asked. “Grimmsects.” The little Yang on her shoulder, the one that was always telling her to play pranks and say silly things, gave her a thumbs up.

Akelarre made a noise that might have been a very weak laugh. Ruby didn’t know if she should count that as a win. On the one hand, her kinda-sorta new friend laughed at a joke. On the other, her kinda sorta new friend was a princess of the Grimm and might be plotting to end all life on Remnant. 

“How did you become a Grimm princess anyway?” Ruby asked.

“Did you want to become a Grimm princess too?” Akelarre asked.

“What? No!” Well, actually, Beowolves were sorta cute, if you squinted. Maybe she could become the Grimm princess of murder puppies. Or cookies. Wait, no, she was thinking bad thoughts! 

“I don’t blame you. You seem to have a loving family here already. I don’t think you would need the Grimm.”

Ruby ran a hand across Crescent Rose. “Why do the Grimm hurt people?” she asked. It felt really silly, a question she’d asked before only to be told that she was being childish, but then, she’d never gotten to ask the question to a Grimm that could answer back.

“Why do humans hurt the Grimm?”

“It, it’s not the same!” Ruby said. 

Akelarre nodded. “That’s true. The Grimm, most of them, are expendable. They have minds but they can hardly think for themselves. They are closer to automatons than living things.”

“That doesn’t explain why,” Ruby said.

Akelarre brought both hands up, fingertips pressing together to form an arch right over her mouth. “It’s complicated.”

“I have all day,” Ruby said. Her grip on Crescent Rose tightened.

“Some things I just can’t tell you,” Akelarre started. When Ruby felt her face reddening the Grimm girl waved a hand dismissively and shook her head. “Secrets are secrets, Ruby. You can’t expect me to just tell you things, especially when you’re clearly on the other side. How would you feel if I asked you to betray your family?”

“Fine, I get it,” she said.

“Thanks. Just... sometimes you need to do horrible things now to make things better later. That’s why the Grimm are the way they are.”

“That makes no sense,” Ruby complained.

Akelarre shrugged. “It does make sense. It’s just not very fair.”

“Well that sucks,” Ruby declared, her arms starting to cross before she remembered and grabbed onto Crescent Rose again.

“Yes.” Akelarre sighed. “Can we talk about more pleasant things? If I wanted to talk about how doomed humanity was in the face of the never ending Grimm tide I would have stayed at home.”

Ruby snorted, then slapped a hand over her mouth, but Akelarre’s eyes had softened and she didn’t seem to take offence. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to distract the Grimm in the house until dad got home. He would know what to do. “O-okay then... so what do you usually do for fun? 

“I make new Grimm! Not more of them, but new kinds. It’s really fun.”

“Ah,” Ruby said. She had no point of reference for that. “That sounds nice?” 

“It is,” Akelarre agreed. “I guess it’s something like making a new weapon like your Crescent Rose. You need to put all the little parts together and make sure it works just right. It’s satisfying.”

“Huh, that does sound cool,” Ruby admitted. She imagined assembling Grimm the way she put together her baby. Then she could command her army of MechaGrimm to... “Urg, that’s not a better thing to talk about.”

“I’m not really sure what two girls are supposed to talk about,” Akelarre admitted. “One of the only people I talk to is... older.”

“Older?” Ruby asked. “Like, she’s my dad’s age?”

“Was your dad born before the Grimm existed and when the moon was whole?” she asked.

Ruby knew her dad and uncle Qrow were pretty old. They were both in their thirties. But they weren’t that old. “Yeah, okay. I think we’re supposed to talk about boys and stuff.”

“Salem said that if a boy ever hurt my feelings, when she was done with them the bards would write sagas of their suffering.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, Uncle Qrow and dad said the same thing.” She rolled her eyes. “Parents overreact so much.”

“They do. They always get unreasonably annoyed when you go out on your own to risk your life in an attempt to make the world a better place.”

Ruby flushed, but she couldn’t help but agree. “I know, right? Yang is like that too. She’s always going on about how I should be careful, but when she was my age she was doing all sorts of things. It’s just not fair.”

“Yang is your sister?” Akelarre asked. Ruby nodded and she continued. “Tall, blond, big chest.”

“Ah.... you know Yang?” Ruby asked. Was Yang’s punning prowess so grand and terrifying that even the Grimm feared her? 

Akelarre pointed to a wall next to Ruby where a picture of the Xiao-Long-Rose family rested. “Oh, yeah, that makes more sense.”

“What were you thinking?”

“N-nevermind that,” Ruby said. “So, do you have any sist--” she paused when a ringing sound filled the living room. A ringing sound that came from her skirts. Reaching around, Ruby pulled out her beaten up old scroll, swiped carefully to avoid the cracks on the screen and placed it on her lap. “Hi?”

“Ruby!” Her dad’s face appeared on the screen, white teeth flashing as he grinned up at her. “How are you, my little flower?”

Ruby’s face went from too-long-indoors pale to mortification-red in a heartbeat. “Daaad, don’t call me that!”

Taiyang’s eyebrows shot up. “But I thought you loved it when I called you that? Is my little thorn growing up? Do you not want cuddles anymore?”

“N-no, that’s not it. I still want cuddles,” she said. Her face went thermonuclear when she heard Akelarre make a noise of amusement at the back of her throat. When she looked up it was to find that the Grimm had a hand over her mouth and was looking off to one side.

“Is there someone with you, Ruby?” Taiyang asked. His smile took on a slightly predatory cast. “Is it a boy?” 

“No. I mean yes.” Taiyang started moving on the screen as if he was running. “No, dad wait, I mean, there’s someone but she’s not a boy.” He came to a stop.

“Oh, okay. Ah, did you make a friend?”

“Y-yes. That’s exactly it. We met, uh, while I was walking home. We fought some Beowolves together. You can meet her later. Why did you call?” She gave herself a pat on the back for her expert lying skills. 

“I look forward to it. And don’t use this as an excuse to raid the cookie jar.”

“I’d never,” Ruby lied.

“Hrm,” her dad said, but he looked more amused then anything. “I wanted to know if you would come to Patch in a bit. There’s a group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training from Beacon here on a mission. I thought you might like to meet them. They’re off chasing some strange Grimm right now, but should be back in a few hours.”

“Strange Grimm?” Akelarre asked.

“Is that your new friend?” Taiyang asked. “Ah, yeah, could be that they’re a new kind of Grimm, or just some Grimm that have migrated over to Patch. Whatever the case, the students will figure it out, I’m sure. Maybe you could come over too, I’d love to meet Ruby’s new friend!”

“Maybe,” Akelarre said. 

“T-thanks for the invite dad, I’ll, uh, see if I can come over in a bit,” Ruby said. She waved at the screen, dismissed her dad’s followup questions and hung up. “I’m in so much trouble.”

Akelarre got to her feet and out of reflex Ruby did the same. “I think I should go,” Akelarre said. “But it was fun talking to you.”

“Ah, yeah, surprisingly I can say the same,” Ruby said. “Do, do you have a scroll?”

“I... don’t. But if you give me your number I can get one later.”

Ruby nodded and rattled off her scroll’s number, all the while wondering if the Grimm spent a lot of time online. Was that what Uncle Qrow meant when he talked about online predators? Were trolls a mysterious sort of Grimm? “So, uh, you’re leaving now?” Ruby asked while she watched Akelarre shift her hood back up to cover her face and eyes. 

Then the Grimm women stepped forwards, both arms wrapping around Ruby’s much smaller frame and tucking her against her chest. She gasped, but the panic subsided when she realized that it was just a hug. A nice, warm, comforting hug from an older girl. She could hear the thump-thump of Akelarre’s heart and felt her own start to beat faster in response.

“Thank you, Ruby. You’re a nice girl,” Akelarre said.

“A-ah, y-yeah, sure, you’re welcome,” Ruby said while her cheeks burned. “It was... nice to meet you?” 

“I’ll keep in touch,” Akelarre said as she headed for the door. “Goodbye.”

Just like that, the girl was out of their house and walking towards the front gate where an Alpha Lancer landed with grace that Ruby wouldn’t have expected from such a huge Grimm. And then they were gone. 

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway. 

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Nine

Velvet reflected on her team as she ran through the underbrush of a forest, powerful legs kicking out beneath her to propel her around trees and bushes and the occasional swarm of black and white Grimm bugs that twisted around like tiny bunny-girl-eating tornadoes.

One of the first and most important lessons they learned at Beacon was that teamwork made everything better. Velvet was all for that. Teamwork was awesome. 

So why, she wondered to herself as the chainsaw buzz of far, far too many Grimm sounded out behind her, was she out here alone? 

It had started simply enough. Mr. Xiao Long had found a civilian who was willing to drive them to the edge of the forest in the back of his utility vehicle. The ride was a bit bumpy but it was better than walking. After an hour of scouting into the woods and killing off a few Beowolves and working together to take down an Ursa, they ran into the first of the strange Grimm.

It looked like a bee. But the bees Velvet was used to were tiny cute things that buzzed harmlessly around and minded their own business. This one was the size of a watermelon and tried to eat Fox. 

Coco then had the wonderful idea of splitting apart to look for more. 

It wasn’t a wonderful idea. It was a stupid idea.

She didn’t dare look over her shoulder, not for so much as a second, because she knew the moment she wasn’t paying attention they would catch her and do horrible, horrible things to her body. 

Yatsu and Fox might have liked to think that she was an innocent little girl, but she’d read some very interesting Mystrillian comics and wasn’t about to let some Grimm bugs have their way with her.

Panting, Velvet suddenly found herself breaking through the canopy of the forest and coming to a sudden halt, feet scampering for purchase as she found herself in a little clearing with a rocky outcrop at the end that gave way to a sudden fall. Far below, the churning water of a river meeting the ocean filled with air with a deep rumble that almost masked the noise of the oncoming Grimm.

She swallowed, spun around, then stopped again as the Grimm in the woods slowly moved to surround her. 

It wasn’t just Grimm bees, she realized. Some of the Grimm were hideously long creatures with far, far too many feet and flat bodies that wrapped themselves around the nearest trees then locked eyes with her. Others were spider-like, creatures as tall as she was with eight scuttling, bone-tipped legs that moved into the shadows of the woods and hissed with what sounded far too much like eagerness .

She had never wished for plain, boring human eyesight as much as she did right then. If she had human eyes, maybe she could have avoided seeing the myriad of Grimm insects scuttling around to pen her in.

She was out of hard light dust, her Aura was probably running on fumes, and she felt the creeping ache of tired muscles across her entire body. 

She was going to die. 

The thought made her laugh, just a single bark of a giggle that escaped her chest even as tears started to fill her eyes. 

If she was going to go down, then she’d do it with a fight. And she’d accomplish her mission too. Slowly, she pulled up her camera and started taking pictures as quickly as she could reel it back. Maybe the others in team CFVY would find her gear. At least with the pictures they’d have a good idea what had gotten her in the end. 

Soon, the Grimm started to lose patience and started to move closer. 

She tossed her precious camera aside, letting it tumble onto the grass where she hoped the muddier ground would keep it from breaking. She ran a hand over Anesidora’s box. It wouldn’t be as useful without the camera in it, but she still had some tricks up her sleeves.

Then the Grimm started backing off.

Velvet looked around her, only noticing the figure in white when she was already a few meters closer. The girl walked towards Velvet, then paused and bent down to pick something out of the grass. She recognized her camera.

“You dropped this,” the girl said as she inspected the camera. Her voice was almost monotone, but soft and youthful. “It looks expensive, and well maintained. You probably don’t want to lose it.”

Velvet stared at the camera, then at the girl--not that she could see much more than her nose and mouth with the hood she was wearing--then to the forest. 

“T-the Grimm,” she said, gesturing at the woods.

“I took care of them.”

Velvet blinked, then took in the slim woman next to her. She had never heard of anyone being able to scare the Grimm away with their mere presence, but the evidence was not currently eating her alive so she wasn’t going to argue. Reaching out, she took back Anesidora and brought it to her chest. “Thanks,” she said before her eyes dipped down and she found herself fiddling with the camera.

“No problem,” the woman said.

Velvet tugged a piece of grass loose from the casing, then, to her instant mortification, the camera clicked.

The flash went off. 

The woman blinked.

Velvet stared back, her mind racing as she tried to find an excuse. It was an accident. Something must have broken in the camera, her fingers slipped... but as was so often the case, her mouth raced ahead of her common sense. “It’s because you’re pretty.”

The woman tilted her head to one side. “Thank you?” she said. Velvet felt her eyes scanning her up and down and hoped that the fact that she was covered in mud--and leaves, and branches--wasn’t making her look as insane as she sounded. “You’re very pretty too.”

“Uh,” Velvet said.

“I like your ears. They’re very cute,” the girl said. “One of them is crooked.”

Velvet looked up and saw that the girl was right; one ear was flopping forwards, bent almost in half. She hated when her ears did that, it made her look so messy. “It, it happens,” she said.

“If I straighten it, will the other bend?”

Velvet had never been a religious person, but she now considered prayer. Maybe if she prayed hard enough some wayward god of awkward situations would be kind and let the ground swallow her up.

Then the girl reached out with a pale hand and ran it along the length of her bent ear, the fingers smoothly sliding across the surface. She felt herself rooted to the spot, eyes wide like a real bunny in the light of a low-flying Bullhead. Her ear twitched as the girl straightened it out, then lowered her hand to pat Velvet on the head. “All better.”

It was only then that Velvet realized that she’d been making sounds, and not the kind one made in polite company. 

As if on cue her other ear flopped down.

“Oh no,” the girl said. Her shoulders slumped and she made a noise that might have been a choked off giggle. “Well, that didn’t work out at all.”

“Haaaa,” Velvet said, the sound stretching out while her brain cooked. 

Velvet, whose face had gone right past red and into the white of someone who was one innuendo-filled comment away from fainting, was saved when the sounds of branches breaking and leaves rustling came from the forest and three familiar Hunters stumbled out of the treeline.

“Velvet!” Coco screamed as soon as she locked eyes on her. “Oh, thank Gucci. I thought you might have been hurt.” She started walking over, then paused, sunglasses sliding down her nose as she took in the figure next to Velvet. “Ah, Bun Bun, did you make a friend?”

“Ah,” Velvet said. “H-hey everyone. I’m happy to see you’re all safe.” She took a step out of the girl in white’s reach. If Coco saw her fixing her ears again then... then she would need to transfer schools and go live in another country or else the teasing would never end.

“Are you well?” Yatsu asked. He scanned her up and down and his shoulders lost some tension when he didn’t find any obvious injuries.

“I’m okay! I thought I was done for, but then, uh.” She turned to the girl standing next to her. “I’m so, so sorry, but I didn’t catch your name.”

“I’m Akelarre,” the girl said. She bowed her shoulders a little. “A pleasure to meet you all. Are you the group sent to investigate the Grimm around here?”

“That’s us,” Coco said. She came a little closer, Fox and Yatsu following behind with the bigger boy helping his blind partner over some of the rough terrain. “You’re a Huntress, I take it?”

“No. But I heard about the strange Grimm and wanted to see for myself.” She turned her head towards the woods and Velvet had the impression she was looking for the monsters in the shadows. 

Coco’s beret looked a little worse for wear, with a few sticks stuck to it, and she had mud up to her shins. If Velvet snapped a picture of her now, she might be able to use it as blackmail later. “So, you saved our favourite bunny girl?” Coco’s smile took on that edge that Velvet, even after knowing the girl for so short a time, knew meant she was going to say something embarrassing. “Did she give you your hero’s kiss?”

“She did not,” Akelarre said.

“Coco!”

Coco’s laughter was a mix of relieved and genuinely happy. “It’s good to see you’re safe, Bun. Those bug Grimm are downright terrifying, but they kinda left off a couple of minutes ago. Did you get any pictures?”

“I did,” Velvet said as she lifted her camera. “Plenty.”

“Do you need more?” Akelarre asked. “I could bring some Grimm over.”

Coco snorted. “Whoa there, whitey, there’s no need to show off.”

“It wouldn’t be difficult. The only Grimm around here are my Grimm,” Akelarre said.

Coco paused mid-step again and the boys stopped behind her. They were maybe half a dozen meters away now. Close enough that Velvet wondered if she should sneak back towards Coco to hide from the sudden tension in the air.

“And what, exactly, do you mean by your Grimm?” Coco asked. Her hands strayed to the purse dangling by her side and Yatsu had one hand reaching up to the sword he carried on a strap across his back. Even Fox tightened his fists.

“Coco,” Yatsu said. “Perhaps we merely misunderstood. Where there is understanding, sympathy grows, and where there is sympathy the tree of friendship may thrive.”

Akelarre nodded, her mouth twisting up at the corners even as she reached both hands into her hood. “If understanding is what you wish for,” she said as she pulled her hood off. “Then I’ll gladly tell you what I know.”

“Grimm!” Velvet gasped and took a step back.

“I am, sorta,” Akelarre said.

“Shit!” Coco yelled even as she opened her purse up and let her gatling gun unfold into its full form. “Velvet, get over here. Now,” she barked, any of her usual playfulness buried under a tone of voice that Velvet had never heard before. She scampered over to Coco’s side, then squeaked when her team leader shoved her back and towards the two boys. “Look girl, I don’t wanna hurt you, but you’re looking like a baby-eating Grimm right now and that’s got my hackles up.”

“Killing babies is...” Akelarre hesitated for a few long seconds. “Bad,” she finally said. “I just want to play with my bugs.” Reaching into her cloak and ignoring the way she made everyone tense, Akelarre pulled out something black and covered in white plates. 

The tiny Grimm spider waved at team CFVY.

The creature only had time to blink once before Coco opened fire.

A torrent of hot dust rounds zipped across the clearing and battered into the creature’s body, splashing off her Aura for a half second before tearing through and ripping gouges out of her flesh. 

Velvet squeaked as the girl, as Akelarre’s body flopped backwards onto the ground with a wet splat. “Coco, what the hell?”

“She was a Grimm!” Coco shot back.

“Perhaps that was a little hasty,” Yatsu said. “She had not taken any actions against us. And she had Aura!”

“She sounded a little weird but pretty damned human to me,” Fox said. “Are you sure she was a Grimm? I would have expected a Grimm to sound, you know, evil-er.”

“Her eyes were all red and she had veins all over,” Coco said. She gestured off towards where Akelarre’s corpse was starting to fume and dissipate with the same sort of black dust as all other Grimm when they died. “Plus she had a pet Grimm. I’m not apologizing.”

Velvet was more than ready to chastise Coco some more when she heard a faint rustle in the forest, only it didn’t come from one place but all across the woods surrounding them. “Guys,” she said. “I think we might be in trouble.”

Black forms started to move out of the woods with the slow, lethargic motions of predators that had found injured prey. They had every right to. The Grimm kept pouring out of the forest in numbers that had Velvet shaking in her boots. 

“I think, perhaps, they are not amused with the way we killed their leader,” Yatsu said. He spun his sword around once and brought it up in a guarding stance. 

Coco moved to his side, gatling gun held low as she took in the growing hoard of Grimm while Fox and Velvet spread out just a little to take on any that tried to flank them. It was a formation that had served them well in the Emerald Forest near Beacon, though it had never been tested against so many Grimm.

“We could jump,” Coco said, gesturing with a nod to the cliff side. As though in answer, a swarm of Lancers buzzed as they rose from around the cliff, narrow red eyes locking onto the team. “...or not.”

Velvet had a hand hovering over her weapon. Summoning a copy of Coco’s gun was probably going to be her best bet to mow down as many of the Grimm as she could before they reached their team. Then she remembered that she was out of Dust and brought her hands up in a boxer’s stance.

The Grimm all shifted their attention in the same direction, a thousand insectile eyes focusing on the spot where Akelarre had died and where the black dust that had been rising away a few moments ago was now condensing back down into a lump of Grimm-stuff so black that it made Velvet’s eyes itch to look at it.

“That doesn’t look good,” Coco said.

The black ball exploded.

The air around team CFVY hissed as it blew past, then reversed and pulled in towards the centre of what was becoming a spinning tornado of black, expanding darkness.

With a suddenness that left Velvet reeling the explosion stopped with a cracking noise that she felt in the pit of her stomach, as though the world was a pane of glass and someone had just smashed it to bits with a sledgehammer. 

Velvet blinked at the spot where Akelarre had stood, the spot where Akelarre was standing again, her hood pooled around her shoulders and her vein-lined eyes wide with surprise.

Then her red irises narrowed into slits and she let out a breath of air that Velvet could hear quite clearly over the unnatural stillness of the clearing. “That,” the Grimm woman said, her attention focusing on Coco who was looking less-than-confident, “was rude.”

Bugs exploded out of Akelarre’s cloak. Thousands, millions of tiny black and white specks that filled the air with a cloud of squirming, buzzing, clicking insects so thick that she couldn’t see the tiniest hint of movement behind it.

Coco spun around, screaming as she fired into the swarm. 

Velvet joined her in screaming only to regret it as a swarm shot towards her and plastered her body in tiny, scratchy bugs.

She cringed back, expecting to be bitten and stung while the bigger Grimm jumped on them to finish them off. 

With the same suddenness as it all began, the swarm stopped.

Velvet cracked one eye open, then the other.

Team CFVY were covered in tiny Grimm insects, Lancers no bigger than a coin and black and white moths with skull-patterned wings. Even plain ordinary bugs were crawling along their bodies, mingling with their Grimm counterparts. The bigger Grimm were looking at them with the hungry eyes of predators, while above, Lancers flew in tight formations.

In the middle of it all stood Akelarre, one hand pushing Coco’s gun to the side. Coco stared at the Grimm woman and Akelarre stared right back. With strength that belied her size she tore Coco’s gatling gun out of her hands and flung it to one side, then shoved Coco back.

Her team leader stumbled then fell onto her rear, wide eyes peeking past the rim of her shades to look up at Akelarre as she stood above her. “You attacked me,” she said.

“We-”

“Shut. Up.”

Akelarre’s lips hadn’t moved. It wasn’t her that had spoken but the buzz and thrill of a million bugs, a noise like nails on a chalkboard that sent cold shivers down Velvet’s back and yet still completely understandable all the same. 

“You hurt me. You killed me,” Akelarre said, her voice mimicked by every Grimm in the clearing in an echo that called out to the primal parts of Velvet’s mind and told her to run. “I didn’t want to hurt you. And I won’t. I’m better than that. Better than you. You killed Mister Spider.”

Velvet had no idea who Mister Spider was but she was ready to apologize all the same. 

Then a wall of bugs slid in between Akelarre and Yatsu and her sparkling red eyes turned to him and locked him in place. She reached a hand towards Yatsu and a centipede stood out from the pile of bugs between them, head bobbing in the air like a cobra ready to strike. “Centipedes like to eat their prey alive. They can enter the oral cavity of a victim and eat them from the inside.” 

Akelarre made a small gesture and a group of black and white ants as long as Velvet’s hand crawled up the centipede’s head. “The bullet ant has the most excruciatingly painful bite in the world. A single bite can drive an adult man to suicide to avoid the pain. But the bites are not lethal, so they swarm their victims and bite again and again until they are left alone.”

Another gesture and a wall of hideously bulbous flies hovered between them. “The botfly lays eggs in their still living victims that grow inside them, feeding on the necrotic flesh around the point of entry. A few days after being injected the eggs hatch and burst out of the victim’s skin.” Akelarre stopped and eyed Yatsu up and down. “Wanting to protect your friend is admirable. But perhaps it would be best if you just stood there for a moment. I won’t hurt her. I will hurt you if you interfere.”

The growing clump of Grimm insects climbing atop each other to form a writhing wall between Akelarre and Yatsu and the rest of them suddenly seemed a lot more horrible.

Slowly, as if not to spook Coco, she reached down and took Velvet’s beret from off of Coco’s head. 

“Next time, I would appreciate it if you were a little more mature,” Akelarre said. “I have learned what I wanted to. I am leaving. I expect you to leave too. Am I understood?”

Coco nodded.

“Good.” Akelarre patted her team leader on the head, then placed the beret on her own head. “Goodbye Velvet. It was a pleasure meeting you,” Akelarre said. She gave Velvet a wave, spun on one heel, and walked away. 

The Grimm bugs swarmed again. Velvet squeezed her eyes shut.

And when she opened her eyes again, the Grimm, and their leader, were all gone.

***

RIP Mister Spider.

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway. 

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Ten

“I am... disappointed.”

The single word speared into Cinder’s chest like an arrow through the heart. She found herself looking down, eyes drawn to the floor where all she could see was the polished marble she kneeled on and the feet of her mistress. “I am sorry,” she said. “We did not expe--”

“Obviously not,” Salem said, cutting her off mid-word. Cinder almost wished the queen would raise her voice or growl or something, but her tone was as flat and even as someone reporting on the weather. “Had you expected you would have planned. At least, I hope my lessons to you were poignant enough that you would have.”

“They were,” Cinder said. The less time spent recalling her tutelage under Salem the better.

“What did I teach you about expectations when planning an operation, especially one against someone as knowledgeable as Ozpin?”

“That I should assume he is two steps ahead,” Cinder said.

“Ozpin is old, Cinder, he is, despite my loathing of the fact, quite wise and intelligent. He is no fool. And because you thought otherwise an opportunity has slipped through our fingers.”

Cinder swallowed and looked up, just enough to see Salem’s crossed knees. “I still obtained part of the maiden’s power. We just need to wait for her to pass on,” she said.

“It has been too long already. In all likelihood Ozpin has already moved to prevent the power from moving on to you.” Salem shifted her legs, switching her position on her throne with the kind of grace Cinder could only hope to one day achieve. “No, the opportunity is gone.”

“I can fix this,” Cinder said. “I can infiltrate Beacon. He wouldn’t let Amber out of his sight and she didn’t report on my appearance, Emerald made that impossible. Give me the chance and I’ll find her and end the jo--”

“Stop.”

Cinder let her eyes dip again. Her knee ached where it was pressed into the cold stone of the floor and her back was straining, unused to being bowed for so long. She knew better than to squirm and interrupt Salem’s thoughts.

Salem gasped.

Cinder’s head whipped up only to see her Queen’s eyes go wide before narrowing down. That, alone, was suspect. The howl of Ursas and Beowolves from beyond the Spire and the sudden twitch of the Seers in the room only added to her sudden surge of adrenaline.

Salem stood up from her throne and began to walk with more urgency than Cinder had ever seen towards the back of the room. “Come,” she snapped.

She did not need to be told twice.

They walked through the corridors of the castle, passing Grimm that looked around in confusion and something approaching anxiety. Beowolves were sniffing the air and the Seers were moving about with a speed that was utterly unlike their usual grace.

Salem led her to a spiral stairwell that went down deeper than she had ever travelled in the Spire. Their voyage ended in a cavern lit by purple Grimmlights that shone down on a black pool that made Cinder’s stomach tighten uncomfortably at the mere sight of it.

Akelarre was by the pool, knees drawn up to her chest, head bowed forwards and back hunched in a way that showed off just how gangly and tall she was. The girl was surrounded by hundreds of spider Grimm. Some as big as dogs, others as small as bottlecaps.

“You’ve returned?” Salem asked.

She saw Akelarre swallow and look up. Her eyes, as dark as they were, did nothing to hide how the girl had been crying. Tears, black as pitch, were still running down white cheeks. “I’m back,” Akelarre’s breathy voice said.

“Welcome back,” Salem replied.

Cinder dared to look up at the two of them. Her queen’s entire attention was on the shorter woman before her. It was like looking in a strange mirror. Akelarre’s hair was darker than the abyss between the stars and her face would never be as regal as Salem’s, with eyes that were too big and a mouth that was too wide, but the similarities between the two were disconcerting.

She had spent some time wondering about the girl that shared so much in common with her mistress. She would have hoped that after years spent in the Grimmlands that sort of secret would have been open to her, but Salem was old, ancient even, and it was no surprise that she held a few things in reserve.

Akelarre licked her lips, crossed one arm under her small chest and looked down. “I died.”

Cinder’s breathing hitched but she locked her body in place before anyone could notice.

Salem scanned Akelarre up and down. “Did you now? How did it happen?”

“A girl shot me. She had a purse that turned into a gatling gun. It hurt.”

“And now? How do you feel?” Salem asked. The hint of concern in a voice that had never had the same for Cinder was like an icepick to the kidney.

“I got better,” Akelarre said. “Mister Spider died.”

“Mister... Spider?” Salem asked.

Akelarre nodded. “He was my pet. My friend.”

Salem looked as confused as Cinder felt for a moment. “Was he not just a Grimm that you created?”

Cinder’s attention slid back to Akelarre. That confirmed a few things. No matter how strange the girl seemed, that one ability alone turned her into a threat of the highest order. Anyone who could create Grimm was a threat to humanity as a whole. One who could create Grimm and come back from the dead more so. Urgh, she was going to have to befriend the girl.

“He was special,” Akelarre said. “He’s the one we made together. The first time you brought me here. You remember?” Her voice was flat, even in tempo and cadence. A pale imitation of Salem’s own regal voice but an imitation nonetheless.

“I do,” Salem said. “Is that why you’re making so many more like him?”

“They’re not like him!” Akelarre yelled. Tears welled up in her eyes again and she smashed a fist into the ground with a dull thud. It left an indentation in the soil in the shape of her knuckles. “They’re not the same,” she repeated.

Cinder looked at the Spider Grimm, really looked, with more attention than she usually spared to common Grimm. They were different. The little red marks on their bone plates were each unique and none had quite the same proportions.

Salem took a few steps that brought her closer, the Spider Grimm shifting out of her path with what appeared like deference. She reached towards Akelarre, paused, then touched the girl on the shoulder. “Can I help?”

Akelarre rubbed at her face with a sleeve and stood up.

The two stood before each other for some time and Cinder had to resist her body’s urge to move. “I could use a hug.”

Salem didn’t seem to know what to do for a moment, and Cinder had to congratulate, if only silently, Akelarre’s ability to set the queen of the Grimm on the back foot. Then Salem raised her arms and carefully wrapped them around Akelarre’s shoulders. The girl fell forwards, head burying itself into the crook of Salem’s neck. “There, there?” Salem said.

Cinder had never seen her queen looking awkward before, but she certainly didn’t look as confident as usual as she patted Akelarre on the back with one hand. Then the tension in Salem’s shoulders relaxed and she almost melted into the hug.

Cinder was not jealous, not even when the hug went on for what had to be a full minute before Akelarre pulled back and grinned at Salem. If the grin was watery, then no one chose to mention it. “Thanks,” she said.

“It was no problem,” Salem replied. “I trust that the woman that hurt you is dead?”

“No. But I did steal her hat.” Akelarre gestured to her head where a black beret sat at a bit of an angle. “And I told her off.”

“If that is all the revenge you demand for your murder, you will find yourself collecting many adversaries who won’t be afraid of retaliating against you in time,” Salem warned.

She shouldn’t have had to, it was obvious. Whoever, whatever this Akelarre girl was, she was playing the game at a level below most people. That was both disturbing and an opportunity. She could work with someone so straightforward.

“If she tries again she won’t succeed,” Akelarre said. “And then I’ll have my bugs eat her alive from the inside.”

Or perhaps, Cinder thought, she could take her time and befriend the girl while making sure she was useful to her.

“Next time you head out it will be with an escort,” Salem decided. She stepped back from Akelarre and slid back into her throne.

“I have my Grimmsects.”

Salem shook her head. “They were obviously insufficient. Also, that name is undignified.”

“I think it’s cute,” Akelarre argued back.

Cinder was starting to have a good idea of which box to place Akelarre in. She had seen that kind of bickering before, though fortunately she had never participated in it herself. It was obvious that Salem cared for the girl, and the opposite was also true. It took only a moment to recall the last place she’d seen that kind of attitude; Emerald and Mercury. They spoke to each other with the same sort of irreverence for title or rank, though Salem and Akelarre were not at each other's throats in the same way as her subordinates.

No, what they shared was a mutual respect. They both felt as if they were... equals. Or if not equals then near enough.

“Cinder,” Salem said, her attention shifting to her. “I will approve of your plans to retrieve the maiden’s power. But I want you to work with Akelarre. Knowing her, she will want to wander again and I will not allow her to do so on her own. You will be sufficient to guard her.”

She knew better than to argue. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And Akelarre,” Salem said as she looked the woman up and down. “I will be giving you a task as well, if you wish it.”

“I’d love to help,” Akelarre said, with such an innocently earnest tone it made Cinder sick.

“I suspect that Cinder’s task will be bringing her to Beacon, or at least near Vale. You mentioned some familiarity with the criminal underworld, and Cinder has been working to use Vale’s to her own end. I want you to put pressure on them to... better our own goals.”

Akelarre made a humming sound and tapped her chin. “That sounds like it might be fun.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway.

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Eleven

Warning: This chapter contains traces of FLUFF. Read at your own risk.

***

“Check.”

“Hm.”

“Check.” 

“Hrm.”

“And checkmate.”

Akelarre looked up from her book on the history of Vale and its surrounding cities to stare across the library table. Salem was sitting across from her, leaning back in an upholstered armchair, a huge tome on her lap which she was reading with rapt attention.

Next to them was a chessboard, a Seer floating at one end and Mister Spider, Second of the Name, standing behind an emancipated row of white pieces. 

“Were you even paying attention?” she asked as Mister Spider (Second of the Name) and the Seer started resetting the board. 

“Enough to win, obviously,” Salem said. She turned a page.

Akelarre huffed, cheeks puffing out. She glanced over to the chess set, which had been reset in the meantime, and with a twitch of her mind Mister Spider (Second of the Name) pushed a pawn forwards with a knife-tipped limb.

“You’ll note that I have been playing games like these for quite some time,” Salem said as she continued reading. A black pawn moved towards the middle of the board. 

“You make yourself sound old,” Akelarre said as she went back to her book. The click-click of pieces moving across the board was the only noise for a while.

“Akelarre, my dear, I am old,” Salem said. Her tome closed with a dull thump and she looked at Akelarre across the table. “And I hope to see you grow old too.”

“Can we even wrinkle?” she asked.

“That is not what I meant,” Salem--the woman that looked like she was no more than forty for the past millennia--said. “You died on your last excursion. And I would like to think that I am familiar enough with you to know that you’ll be heading out again.”

“I got better,” Akelarre said. She wasn’t reading any more, just staring at the words on the page. “But.. thanks for worrying.”

Salem made a dismissive noise. “Don’t be a fool. You’re a... friend. It’s normal that I be concerned. We have enemies, or at least I do, and you inherited them with nothing more than your appearance and abilities. There are fates worse than death. I wouldn’t wish them upon you.”

“But you’d save me, right?” 

Salem paused in the act of placing her tome on the table. “I would.”

Akelarre grinned at her.

“Checkmate, by the way,” Salem said.

Akelarre’s head whipped to the board where she had, in fact, lost. “But I didn’t make any moves.”

“I acted for you. Don’t worry, I made to take only the most optimal moves from your position.”

“But I still lost?”

“You lost on the third move.” Salem made that little noise that meant she was laughing on the inside. “Perhaps a game of chance would suit you better?”

***

Akelarre ducked, her entire back bending until she was folded almost in half. It was an uncomfortable position to be in, Cinder knew, but it was enough to avoid Hazel’s fist.

The woman slapped a hand to the ground and kicked out at Hazel, both feet slamming into his chest. But Hazel was a big man and he had to outweigh Akelarre by an order of magnitude. She flipped backwards with the momentum of the blow, landed on the balls of her feet and shot towards Hazel again.

They exchanged blows for a while, Hazel’s speed unaffected by his size as he redirected Akelarre’s tiny fists and wove out of the path of her kicks.

It looked like a forgone conclusion. For all that Akelarre was impressively fast she was not as quick as Hazel, nor as strong. 

Cinder had sparred with the man before, she knew how dangerous he was. She could only ever win if she went all out, and Akelarre didn’t seem to be doing the same.

So perhaps it was inevitable that Hazel found an opening in Akelarre’s assault and landed an open-palmed blow to her stomach that made the young woman fold in half and flop backwards to land gracelessly on the ground.

“Are you well?” Hazel asked.

Akelarre wheezed, her expression vacant as she stared up at the ceiling. But she lifted one hand and made a dismissive gesture before rolling onto her front and climbing back to her feet. “I can keep going,” she said.

“Your Aura is low,” Hazel admonished. “In situations like those it might be best to think of retreating rather than continue fighting.”

Akellare bit her lip and stared off to a point over Hazel’s shoulder, then she nodded. “Okay. In that case I’m going to shower. Thanks, Mister Hazel.”

Hazel, who was usually such a serious man, grinned as he placed both hands on his hips. “Think nothing of it, Miss Akelarre.”

Cinder watched the Grimm woman cross the training gym and slip into the locker room at the far back. Only when she was completely out of sight did she move into the gym.

Hazel was folding the mats they had trained on, but he paused when he saw her approaching. “Cinder,” he greeted.

“Hazel,” she returned. “How are you doing?”

His eyes narrowed a little but he nodded all the same. There was always something of a truce between the servants of Salem, an unspoken agreement not to step on each others toes. It did not mean that they enjoyed each other’s company.

“I’m well enough,” he said as he lifted a mat that weighed twice as much as she did one-handed. “How can I help you?”

“Can’t I just have a chat with a friend?” she asked. Crossing her arms, she leaned against the nearest wall and watched as Hazel moved another mat.

He snorted. “We are many things, Miss Cinder, but friends we are not. If you’re here to interrogate me, you might as well just leave.”

She rolled her eyes and shifted a strand of hair back, hooking it over her ear in a way that drew attention to her long neck and the exposed skin of her collar. Hazel followed the gesture, but didn’t react otherwise. “I thought you would be more subtle, Hazel,” she said.

“I can be perfectly subtle in the service of my queen. Unless you’re here on her behalf?” He eyed her up and down for a moment. “I thought not.”

“I’m just curious. Salem asked me to guard Akelarre during her next trip beyond the Grimmlands. It would make my life far easier if I knew some things about her.”

“You can ask,” he said as he placed the last mat on a pile, straightened his back, and wiped his brow.

Cinder’s smile could have flayed the flesh off a man. “How long have you known her?” she asked.

Sighing, Hazel started moving towards the far end of the gymnasium where some equipment had been shifted around. Obviously someone had been using it and had failed to put everything back in its proper place. “Not terribly long.”

“I see,” she said. And she did see. She saw that getting a straight answer was going to be like pulling teeth. “Do you happen to know where she came from? I never heard of her before.”

“Perhaps our queen did not see fit to tell you about her,” he said.

She grit her teeth and pushed herself off the wall to follow him. “Do you know if she’s... Salem’s?”

“We are all Salem’s, in the end.”

“You know what I meant.”

Hazel turned to face her, and were she any other woman she might have been cowed by the way he stood so tall above her. “I have a few things to take care of,” he said. 

She had to move out of his path as he lumbered by. The glare she fixed on his back did not, unfortunately, light him on fire.

Cinder was going to have to find another source of answers. Akelarre was an unknown and unknowns were threats. Unknowns who acted so... close to Salem, Queen of the Grimm were even bigger threats.

“You have a lot of questions about me.”

Her breath hitched, but that was the only outward sign that Cinder allowed as she turned to face Akelarre.

The girl, the woman, was dressed in a loose shirt and sweatpants, her bare feet leaving wet traces on the floor behind her leading all the way over to the locker room and her hair plastered to the back of her head like the fur of a wet cat. 

“I’ve known Hazel for a few months. More or less,” she said, her gaze drifting over to the door where Hazel had left. “I’m not sure where I came from, but Salem thinks that I was born a long, long time ago. And I’m pretty sure I’m not actually Salem’s daughter or anything, but that’s okay, because sometimes the family you choose is the best one.” 

Cinder nodded slowly, her palms sweaty by her side. Akelarre had heard everything she’d asked Hazel. The how didn’t matter so much now, not compared to what Akelarre’s reaction to her information gathering would be.

“So,” Akelarre began, red eyes spearing into Cinder’s. “Why did you want to know all of that?”

“I was merely curious,” Cinder replied. “If I am to guard you, then wouldn’t it be best if I had an idea of what your history is like? At the very least, knowing about your personality would only help in the long run.”

Akelarre’s gaze never shifted and Cinder began to wonder if the girl had to blink. “Are you... jealous?” she asked.

“Jealous?”

“Ah, because you’ve been working so hard to get Salem’s attention and then I came along?” Akelarre didn’t wait for a reply; she just nodded as if it was all self-evident. “I see. I didn’t mean to steal Salem from you.”

“That’s not what’s happening,” Cinder said, a small smile touching her lips. 

“Hrmm,” Akelarre said. “Do you need a hug?”

“Do I... no, I don’t need a hug,” Cinder scoffed.

“Are you sure? I could explain things to Salem for you. She could give you a hug instead.”

“I don’t need a hug,” Cinder repeated. Her foot tapped the ground and it was only then that she realised how petulant she sounded.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Akelarre said. The worst thing was how genuine it sounded. 

Then she moved up to Cinder and two arms wrapped themselves around Cinder’s shoulders. She froze like a child in front of a charging Ursa, her entire body tensing up as Akelarre, who was just a little taller than her, leaned into Cinder and pulled her close.

She heard a gasp, and turning her head a little revealed that Emerald was standing by the door, eyes wide and hands over her mouth. 

“Did she want to join in the hug too?” Akelarre asked.

Emerald’s eyes just widened further and a deep red blush crept up her neck and all the way to her ears. She spun on one heel and ran.

Cinder sighed. Whatever happened, she had the impression that life with Akelarre was going to be complicated.

***

Just fluff this chapter to show that time is moving. The story picks up again in chapter twelve!

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway. 

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Twelve

***

Emerald’s decision to hate Akelarre didn’t appear instantly. 

Or maybe it did, but that was no one’s business but her own.

No, she had plenty of reasons to dislike the overbearing, clueless, idiotic, dumb, stupid, potential-girlfriend-stealing, stupid, Cinder-hugging, Grimm monster.

“Hey Em.”

And not only that! But Cinder was reciprocating! Oh, sure, she said that it was because Akelarre was all important and stuff, but Emerald could read between the lines. 

Her Cinder was falling for that stupid Grimm whore. 

“Emerald!” Mercury barked into her ear. 

She jumped, breath coming in with a hitch as she refocused on the world around her. They were standing by the gates of Salem’s Spire, the huge black tower rising above them and obscuring the morning sun. “What?” she finally asked.

“You done fantasizing?” he asked, and for a split second she was afraid that he had figured her out. Then he ran his hands over his body in a way that might have been sexy if she was a sex-starved cougar with a thing for disabled boys. “I know you want it, Ems, but this bod is too good for you.”

“I will literally gut you,” she warned.

“I’m not into S&M, but for you, I might make an exception.” 

She growled under her breath and stomped past him, his laughter following after her as she stepped into the entrance hall of the tower. The room was lit with flaming braziers and a few floating Grimm that glowed purple with an inner fire. Benches lined the sides, though who would actually sit on them was anyone’s guess. As far as Emerald knew there was a grand total of maybe a dozen people on this side of the continent. 

In the middle of the room, standing with her arms crossed, was Akelarre. She eyed first Emerald, then Mercury, before her lips twisted into a smile. “Hello,” she said.

“Hey,” Mercury said. He looked up and Emerald found herself doing the same.

There were a few lancers on the ceiling but nothing like the swarm they saw last time. “Uh, hi,” Emerald said, remembering herself after a moment. Akelarre might have been a Cinder-stealing bitch but she was still some sort of Grimm royalty.

“Hello,” Akelarre said again. “So...”

Then she stared. 

Emerald shared a look with Mercury and only got a shrug in reply. “So... what?” Emerald asked.

“I don’t know,” Akelarre said while shifting her attention down to her feet. “I was hoping you guys had something to say.”

How, Emerald wondered. How could someone as wonderful as Cinder accept the affections of such an idiot. “Right, we’re just here to pick up Cinder,” Emerald said. 

“Oh, that’s nice,” Akelarre said. “Cinder must be quite happy to have such loyal subordinates.”

“I am,” a very familiar and very welcome voice said from the end of the hall. Cinder was walking, no, strutting towards them with the grace of a dancer on stage. “Emerald and Mercury have both been exemplary lately.”

Emerald felt her chest swelling up with pride, enough that she deigned to ignore the way Mercury snorted next to her. “Thank you, ma’am,” Emerald said. 

Cinder smiled at them, then came to a stop. “The Seers are moving our things to the Bullhead,” she said. “Is there anything special you need?”

“No, my Grimmsects can carry anything I want,” Akelarre said. 

“You’re... coming with us?” Emerald’s smile started to feel a little forced.

“I am!” Akelarre said. “I’m sure we’re going to have a great time.”

Cinder sighed. “Akelarre is coming with us because she wants to... see the sights, as it were. She also has an important mission, courtesy of Salem, to accomplish while I take care of my own business. We are going to act as bodyguards while also pursuing another goal near Vale. I’ll be giving you the details you need to know later.”

“Near Vale?” Akelarre asked. “So we’re not actually going to the city?” 

Cinder started walking and Emerald was instantly by her side. She placed herself between Akelarre and her boss, if only to cut the Grimm’s line of sight on Cinder’s perfect body. 

“Not immediately. We’ll be meeting a contact. Two of them, in fact. One is already in my pocket but the other might require some... persuasion. But don’t worry, I’ll be taking care of that. In the meantime you’ll be free to do whatever you want. Our meeting area is in a small town a day’s walk from Vale.”

Cinder led the group towards the platform on which their Bullhead sat, the aircraft’s white and grey paint standing out against the dark stones of the Grimmlands. Emerald was reluctant to leave Cider’s side, but she had a job to do, so she picked up the pace and opened the cargo bay doors of the ship before hopping in. 

As she moved to the front to start preparing the Bullhead for take off, she let her imagination wander. If Akelarre was going to be with them, then that meant the Grimm girl was going to be close to Cinder. It wasn’t ideal, but it also meant that, if she was lucky, an accident might happen.

Maybe, she thought as the others boarded the ship, the entire venture was for the best.

***

She liked the Bullhead. 

Oh, sure, it wasn’t as cool as riding a giant murderous hornet around, but it still had some advantages over her Lancers. For one, the Bullhead had a cabin and was climate controlled, which meant that even an hour into the flight she could feel her extremities. It also had seats. Seats were a feature she really approved of. 

And, best of all, there were others in the Bullhead, which meant that she didn’t have to spend the entire flight daydreaming or wishing that her Lancers could fly faster or at least hold a conversation that wasn’t just lots of buzzing.

There was also that familiar tingle in the back of her mind, like when she was trying to remember a word that was on the tip of her tongue. She had ridden in something similar before.

“So, how long have you been working with Cinder?” she asked the boy sitting across from her.

Mercury looked up from his phone and eyed her for a moment. “A little while,” he said.

“That’s... nice,” she replied. “Why did you start working with her?”

He sighed and lowered his phone to his lap. “Because she paid well and didn’t ask questions.”

She had the distinct impression that the last part of that answer was aimed at her, especially when Mercury pulled out his phone and started tapping away at it again.

Leaning back, she tried to find something to do, but other than spying on Cinder and Emerald at the front, or inspecting the swarm following after the Bullhead, there wasn’t much to do. Emerald seemed more focused on Cinder than actually flying, which would have bothered her if it wasn’t clear that Cinder was a very single-minded woman who was plenty competent. Salem wouldn’t have kept her around otherwise.

Emerald... bothered her, a little. All the glares shot her way whenever she looked elsewhere were kind of telling. If it wasn’t for the hundreds of bugs hidden in her hair and clothes and in every shadow and those that she designed to look like pebbles and the other bugs that were almost entirely transparent and the dragonflies with overly large eyes she used for spying from the very edges of her range, then she might not have noticed. 

So, Emerald was angry at her, and was also sneaking peeks at Cinder.

That could only mean one thing. Emerald was trying to hook her up with Cinder and it wasn’t working out. 

It was kinda cute, in a way. Maybe Emerald saw Cinder as a sort of big sister? She smiled up at the Bullhead’s ceiling. And to think that Cinder was such a serious woman all the time. She would have to make sure the two had some time to spend together.

“We’re approaching our landing area,” Cinder called back. “We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Akelarre blinked back to full focus and nodded to the front of the Bullhead. “Thank you,” she said.

Through the many eyes in her swarm she could make out the rough shape of a settlement on the horizon, just a small town with perhaps a hundred homes in all, with a crossroads meeting in its middle. Walls rose around the town, none more than two stories high, but covered in spikes and guard towers. Around the town proper were a few farmsteads and a row of mansions on a hill that seemed to be their destination. 

“We’ll be meeting with one of my contacts almost as soon as we land,” Cinder said. “He might interest you, Akelarre.”

“Oh?” she said, loud enough to be heard over the rumble of the vessel’s engine.

“He’s a well known thief and rogue. His name is Roman Torchwick.”

***

He paused before the huge bay window at the front of the house and stared at his reflection, his cane planted into the ground by his side to liberate both hands so that he could tug and pull his outfit. 

He tipped his hat so that it sat just right, then adjusted his scarf, tugged his jacket on tighter over his shoulders and made sure his shirt was properly buttoned up and free of wrinkles. Then, as he did every time before meeting someone important, or at least someone he had to impress, he ran through his mental checklist.

Make-up? On point.   
Scarf? Snazzy.  
Jacket? Sharp.  
Pants? Women everywhere wanted to tear them off him.  
His hat? Fashionable. As. Fuck.

Oh yeah, this Cinder woman wouldn’t know what hit her.

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway. 

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Thirteen

“Nice place,” Roman said.

Neo looked at the house with narrowed eyes, then shrugged one shoulder.

Her reaction aside, Roman really did think the house was nice. It was a sprawling two storey building with two towers on either end and a massive stone archway above its front door. The entire thing was made of a dull grey stone stacked together with the kind of care and precision that modern buildings just didn’t have.

And it was big. 

A building that big would be prohibitively expensive in Vale where everything was squished together like sardines in a can. A house like this one with such a large lawn and garden could only have been afforded by a Schnee that won the lottery.

But then, this wasn’t Vale. There was plenty of room on the outskirts of the city, and as long as you could defend it from the Grimm the price for a large lot was rather low. He could see a few other homes of equal size here and there through manicured forests, probably the summer estates of council members or businessmen. 

He saw a Bullhead coming in for a landing in the backyard, manicured grass billowing out as the vessel’s thrusters shifted into position and its landing gear deployed with a pneumatic hiss. 

“Well, well, looks like the lady of the hour is here at last. Come along, Neo,” he said as he tossed his cane in the air and caught it midshaft with a snap. “It’s time to meet our new boss.”

He walked to the edge of the Bullhead landing area and waited, Neo half a step behind with her parasol opened and leaning on one shoulder. It took him a whole ten seconds before the strength of the sun above started cooking his head and he started to regret his heavy jacket. 

Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a cigar and a lighter, eyeing the opening hatch of the Bullhead while he lit up and took his first calming puff.

The first two out of the Bullhead looked like goons. Oh, they weren’t wearing sharp uniforms like his own boys, but they had that distinctive look about them, the sort that said that they had a job to do and would do the bare minimum to accomplish it. 

He was going to keep an eye on them, but not too much of one. Kinda like paying attention to a wasp when it entered a room. It might be an annoyance but it wasn’t worth panicking over. 

The next two to step out of the Bullhead were far more interesting. One was a tall woman, her face masked by the shadows of a white hood. Her cloak whipped around her body, only revealing little glimpses. He might have been impressed at the display if the glimpses were worth anything, but she looked about as flat as a pancake under there and with none of the curves. 

The other was a bombshell. Legs that went on for days, a dress so tight in all the right places it was a miracle it didn’t tear itself apart, and long, flowing hair that whipped back in the wind like something out of a shampoo commercial. Sharp, perilously intelligent yellow eyes locked onto Roman and didn’t let go for a moment as she descended from the Bullhead with the careless grace of someone very, very dangerous. 

“Mister Torchwick,” the woman said in a voice that could have sold albums while reading a phone book. “And your lovely assistant.” Her attention wandered to Neo then snapped back. “It’s a pleasure to meet you at last.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, I’m sure,” he said. “And Neo’s, of course.” Neo rolled her parasol in her hand, the tines spinning above her in a whirl of pink lace. She gave them a smug little grin.

When she extended a hand he tucked his cane under one arm and shook.

She was hot. Not the sort of hot that tightened his britches, but literally fever-warm and with a grip that had him holding back a wince as she met his gaze. She let go of his hand and started walking towards the building. “Come, let’s get out of the sun. We wouldn’t want you to get burned,” she purred.

He shared a glance with Neo and saw that same undertone of worry in her eyes that he was feeling. It was only ever the strong or insane or insanely strong ones that had time to play word games like that.

“So, hot stuff, from what I understood you need something... reacquired, lots of something.”

She stopped mid-step, turned around and placed a hand on his chest, the motion so fast and casual that he didn’t have time to step out of the way before she had him by the lapel of his jacket. “I would like to think that our arrangement will be one of mutual respect,” she said. “So please, call me Cinder.”

He swallowed and tried to hide the gesture by giving her his smarmiest grin. “Sure thing, Cinder.” He saw Neo tensing out of the corner of his eye, but she hadn’t moved to defend him yet.

Cinder let go of his jacket and when he inspected it he found a row of four brownish smudges where her fingers had burned into the fabric. He made a mental note to kill the woman from afar if they ever got into a fight. And to do it with ice dust.

They were led to a nice little gazebo set in the middle of a garden, a few stone-paved pathways leading up to the shady area where a pair of wicker couches waited with a table between them. The area was filled with bird song and he caught the movement of honey bees buzzing from one colorful flower to the next with their usual lack of grace. 

Cinder’s companion, the girl in the white cloak, moved ahead of them a ways and bent over the flowers. She even touched one of them and allowed a bee to latch onto her pointer finger. Maybe she was a younger sibling to his maybe-future boss? 

When they reached the gazebo, Cinder gestured to one seat then sat down across from it, one leg crossing over the other with the slow, languid motions of someone daring those around them to stare. 

He sat and felt Neo moving to one of the pillars holding up the little glass-walled building. She folded her parasol and placed it between her feet. Cinder’s companion seemed perfectly willing to sit next to her friend and pet the bee she’d picked up.

“So,” he said once everyone was in their place. “What’s this job that you need doing, and why did you need the best thief in Remnant to do it?”

Cinder placed both hands on her knee and inspected him for a while. “I need Dust, Mister Torchwick. I need a lot of Dust.”

“I know a few stores. If you have a scroll I can give you their address. If you’re buying lots they might even give you a complimentary cup of coffee and foot massage,” he said before waving his hand flippantly. “The Schnee do know how to treat their clients right.”

“Oh, Mister Torchwick, I don’t think you understand just how much Dust I want.” Cinder gestured with one hand towards the house, and when he turned it was to find the little grass-haired goon walking over with a tray in both hands, a large jug of yellowish juice on top. The goon placed it in the middle of the gazebo on a table, then picked a scroll from next to a stack of crystalline cups and handed it to Cinder. She backed up with a bow and spun on one heel to walk back towards the house.

“Ohh,” Cinder’s companion said before reaching over and pouring herself a cup of lemonade. She then stuck her finger in her cup and shook it above the arm of her seat. A few drops splattered onto the wicker arm and she pushed the bee she’d been playing with towards the juice. 

Cinder watched her for a moment, then focused on her scroll. 

Roman’s own shook in his pocket. “I just sent you the transit information for every Dust shipment into Vale for the next half year. There is enough Dust there to feed the entire city’s infrastructure for months, not including what Dust will be purchased by Hunters or refined for household use. I want you to steal it.”

“All of it?”

“Every last granule, Mister Torchwick,” she said.

“That’s a tall order,” he said.

She shrugged one shoulder. “It is. But I am a generous woman and I have always rewarded hard work. And just think of the good it would do for your reputation as... how did you put it? Remnant's greatest thief?”

He was about to start digging into the offer to see what Cinder actually wanted when the girl in the cloak suddenly focused on him. “Mister Torchwick, you’re a criminal, right?” she asked. He had expected a childish voice from her actions alone but the girl’s tone was sharp and articulate. 

“I’m not, as they say, on the right side of the law,” he said with a winning smile. 

“Then maybe you could help me,” she said. Her hood moved back just enough for him to see the upwards curve of her lips.

“Are you certain that’s a good id--” Cinder began. She stopped mid-word when the hood turned her way.

“It’s okay Cinder. I’ve done this kind of thing before, I think. Roman here can just act as a foot in the door for me. Right, Mister Torchwick?” Hood turned his way again.

He resisted the urge to narrow his eyes. A moment ago he had the image of Cinder as the kind of woman most of the mob bosses in Vale wished they could be. Self assured, confident, hot enough to turn most men to putty and with the brains to back that up. And she had resources that he could only guess at. That she folded to Hood here had to mean something, but he wasn’t sure what. “I know my way around, if that’s what you mean.”

Hood reached up and tapped her lip. “Cinder’s mistress gave us each a task. She needs you for hers, so there’s no need to worry about me interfering too much,” she said. He had the impression that the last part was aimed at Cinder more than him.

“Yeah, and what task did she give a big girl like you?” he asked.

She tilted her head back, enough that he caught the faint glowing of two slanted eyes. A shiver ran down his back. “Oh, nothing I couldn’t do,” Hood said. “She just wants me to take over Vale’s underworld.”

***

Neo watched as Roman stared at the girl in the hood and the girl in the hood stared back. Then he laughed and she joined in a moment later with a giggle that set her teeth on edge.

Maybe Roman couldn’t see it, but she sure as hell could. The girl was a few lien short of a card.

Roman diverted the topic to payments and the Cinder woman was adding her own two lien to the conversation. The girl in the hood paid attention for a while, then slowly shifted her gaze up to Neo. 

Neo found herself staring into eyes beneath the hood. Much of the girl's face was hidden in shadow, but those faintly glowing red-on-black eyes were easy to see. The way they studied her like bloody scalpels, peeling her back, like she wanted to take Neo apart and find out how she worked....

It sent a shiver down her spine and brought a little smile to her lips. Her own gaze was much the same, she knew from looking in the mirror and how people tended to go pale before she stabbed them. Seeing it returned was... exciting.

Feeling a little frisky, Neo blinked at Hood, switching her eye colours, then with the next blink turned them the same blood red as the girl’s own. It earned her a small amused noise in response that only made her grin all the wider.

Raising one hand palm up she gestured in the direction of Roman and Cinder, still deep in discussion, and rolled her eyes to convey her boredom. Hood seemed to get it, which was also really nice, and held her hands up, one holding the bee and the other empty.

Or it was, because some kind of praying mantis slightly bigger than Hood's whole hand crawled out from under her cloak and down to her arm to perch, carefully, on her smaller palm. Then with a quiet snap it was in her other hand, two halves of the bee tumbling away pathetically to the ground.

Neo's heart was thudding in her chest. That was a Grimm in her hand. Not to mention the sheer lack of reaction. Hood hadn't even blinked when the bee she'd been playing with had been brutally dismembered in her hand.

Be still my beating heart.

She watched with eager eyes as the Grimm mantis scuttled up Hood’s arm until it was hidden in the folds of her shirt. Neo had heard of people hiding an ace up their sleeve, but that was a whole new level of dangerous. And interesting. 

Making a decision, the diminutive killer called up her semblance and threw an illusion between the two of them and Roman and Cinder.

Then she strutted up to Hood, crossing the short distance slowly... and slid into her lap. Her small size made it a perfect fit as she swung her legs to the side, putting Hood's now empty hand at her back. She leaned in close, close enough that her head was almost under the hood and she could see how the other girl's cheeks weren’t so pale anymore.

When Hood's gaze flickered down to her cleavage instead of murdering her, she knew she had made the right choice.

Pressing herself right up to the taller girl, she got close enough that Hood could feel Neo's breath on her lips... then she grinned widely and turned to look across the field, raising a hand to eye level and pointing in the direction she was looking, drawing Hood's bloody gaze along to the equally fancy house on the next lot over.

Neo's other hand reached out, curling in the air as if picking up a ball and holding it up to the light, before squeezing it into a fist, announcing exactly what she wanted to do, before hopping off Hood's lap and dragging her along, the illusion she created remaining behind.

***

I’d usually say ‘all aboard the HMS Rocky Road’ or something, but at this point Neo might shank you if you don’t approve of her ship. 

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway. 

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fourteen

Akelarre felt very warm.

It was probably the sun, she decided as she followed the white, brown and pink girl who was strutting ahead of her. She stared for a moment, then refocused on the back of the girl’s head.

What had Roman called her? Her mind was a little scattered, more so than usual. It took her a moment to recall... Neo, it was Neo. 

And it was Neo that used some sort of Stranger ability to create an illusion behind her and to mask the way they were walking away from the meeting, an illusion that neither Cinder nor Roman could see through.

Neo trampled across manicured grass and when they reached a fence between their lot and the next the diminutive girl took a running leap and grabbed the top of the brick wall. She placed one leg over the top and sat astride the fence, then extended a hand to Akelarre while one eyebrow rose in challenge.

Akelarre wondered if this is what it felt like when teenagers were offered drugs. 

She grabbed Neo’s hand and let the tiny, and surprisingly strong, girl pull her up. Her fall on the other side was not quite as dignified as Neo’s almost dainty skip but she managed to stay on her feet.

The lawn here extended a ways towards a home that could only be described as a mansion. 

As her Grimmsects and a swarm of local bugs scouted the inside of the mansion she started to realise just how opulent it was. “Who does that house belong to?” she asked.

Neo shrugged.

“So, what are we doing here?” she asked. It was a little strange for her to follow a complete stranger, especially a complete stranger that was walking right up to an empty house. A house with bedrooms. Bedrooms that had beds.

She swallowed and shook her head. Neo wasn’t like that. Maybe. Probably. And if she was she could just say no with a dozen times Neo’s weight in insects as emphasis. 

Then Neo pulled out a set of lockpicks, bent over double before the front door, and started fiddling with the lock.

“Wait, are we robbing the place?” she asked, trying not to stare. 

Neo paused and gave her a sort of ‘what do you think’ look before rolling her eyes and returning to her picking.

“Isn’t that... wrong?” Akelarre asked.

Neo stopped again and gave her a flat stare. 

“Not that I have the moral high ground here. I’m pretty sure you could steal every single item in Vale and you’d still be ahead of me,” Akelarre said.

Raising a hand up to her face, Neo placed her index finger across her lips in the universal gesture for silence.

Akelarre stared at the much shorter girl, then at the mansion they were breaking into. “There’s no one in there,” she said. “You can make as much noise as you want.”

Neo seemed to consider that for a moment. She pulled her picks from the door, slid them into her costume, then took a step back. 

Her roundhouse kick tore the door out of its hinges and sent it clattering into the hallway beyond. She stepped next to the doorway, made a sweeping gesture with both arms, and invited Akelarre into the home.

“Thank you,” she said as she stepped over the door and into the main hall. The door had broken one of the marble tiles, leaving a nasty mark on the ground, but otherwise the room was nice and intact, with pillars holding beautiful vases off to one side and oil paintings of important looking men on the wall across from them. It was the kind of place she could imagine Salem staying in, if they just added a few purple crystals and some wandering Grimm.

This felt... nostalgic, somehow, as though this wasn’t the first robbery she’d participated in. If this was, in fact, a robbery. “So, we’re here to rob the place, vandalise it, and send a message?” she paused. “Or are we looking for blackmail material?”

Neo tapped a finger to her chin in thought, then nodded before pushing a vase off of its platform. 

It made a very satisfying crunch as it crashed to the ground.

“Okay. Any reason in particular why we’re doing this?” 

Neo shrugged. She was playing innocent, but there was a glint of mischief in her mismatched eyes.

“Is this how you make all your friends?”

Neo’s grin could have lit up the sky in a storm. She nodded.

“Okay. Well, if we’re going to be working together, then it’s best we be friends, right?” Akelarre gestured and had one of her Grimmsects push a vase from where it hid behind a pillar and out of Neo’s sight. The vase, this one made of brass, clunked to the ground.

She got a thumbs up for her effort.

***

Cinder smiled as she saw a single bead of sweat slowly trickle out from under Roman’s stupid hat and along the side of his head before he wiped it away with a swipe. 

She had him on the back foot. Already he was willing to agree to anything she said just to keep his head attached to his shoulders. Of course, that only meant that he would try to betray her later, but there were ways around that. She merely had to teach him the futility of trying to fight her.

She glanced to her side to where Akelarre was sitting and being a quiet threat.

Akelarre wasn’t there.

Blinking, Cinder looked around and found a distinct lack of Grimm Princesses in her vicinity. Worse, Roman’s little pet was gone too. 

Roman locked eyes with her. “Oh shit,” he said.

She agreed.

***

Neos arm twisted just-so to scoop up a perfect sphere of ice cream from the tub, which she slid into her mouth with all the slow, suggestive grace of a lady sipping wine.

“Hey,” Hood protested next to her. “I want some too,” she said.

Neo, being the generous soul that she was, looked at the seven tubs of ice-cream laid out all across the foot of the king-sized bed she was on and decided to be magnanimous. She flipped the scoop over and handed it to Hood who took it. She made a ‘one’ with her other hand, the message clear and obvious. 

Hood could have one scoop.

Hood dipped the scoop into the tub, pulled out a chunk of ice cream with no grace at all, and stuffed it into her face. Half of it ended up smeared across her lips. 

To say that Neo was unimpressed would have been an understatement.

The two of them were lounging on a king-sized bed, her boots leaving marks on the sheets and her tubs of ice cream staining it further. Next to her, Hood was leaned all the way back so that her back rested against the headboard. She had even removed her boots.

Every time Hood moved it made the loops of golden necklaces around her neck jingle with a pleasant little noise. It was a sound Neo was intimately familiar with, the rustle of expensive things acquired through skill and determination and a little bit of breaking and entering.

She’d had... fun. Hood was a strange girl, made all the stranger because she trampled through Neo’s hints like a clueless virgin on prom night. 

That was probably not the best example to use. The only prom she’d ever been to was one she crashed to steal their punch.

“This is really good,” Hood said as she licked the scoop clean. A few droplets of cream ended up on the stacks of paper she had placed on her corner of the bed. “You know, there’s no ice cream where I’m from.”

Neo’s breath caught. 

How? Was that why Hood was so off? Was that why Hood couldn’t catch a clue when Neo hit her with all the subtlety of a freight train? How did Hood survive? Anyone could go a few days, maybe a week without ice cream, but to never have any?

She reached across the bed and patted Hood on the hand. 

Hood, being the bumbling, clueless idiot she was, handed her the scoop back. 

Well, Neo wasn’t going to complain.

“This guy was sick,” Hood said as she shifted through another page. She had found a loose floorboard, somehow, and when Neo pried it out it revealed a neat little stack of blackmail material that Hood seemed more than happy to dig through. 

Political intrigue was boring. If you wanted something, just do it, is what Neo always said. Sorta.

She pulled one of the folders closer to her (It had been on her three-quarters of the bed) and flipped it open. She was greeted with candid pictures of a man with a hairy backside doing some rather improper things to a young lady. She felt her eyebrows climbing up into her hairline.

Flipping the picture up, she showed it to Hood who took one look and scrunched her nose. “Don’t show me that, Neo, I’m still digesting.”

Neo shrugged one shoulder and tossed the picture aside.

Hood closed her own folder and leaned back a little. “So, we broke in,” Neo nodded. “We smashed some artwork,” Neo nodded. “Drew mustaches on every painting,” Neo nodded. “Emptied their freezer,” Neo nodded. “And we found this guy’s stash of dirty blackmail,” Neo nodded. “Now what?”

Neo allowed a cat-like grin to cross her features. She flipped over and placed a hand on Hood’s ankle. 

Hood looked down, blinking at the contact just before Neo yanked her down so fast that Hood’s head bounced on the pillows and the papers she’d had in hand went flying.

Twisting over, Neo moved up so that she was sitting on Hood, hips across the taller girl’s stomach and arms on either side of Hood’s quickly reddening face. 

She wiggled her eyebrows. 

Let’s see you miss this clue.

“Ah, Neo, I, uh,” Hood said.

Neo perked up one eyebrow, her grin growing feral. 

“It’s, well, we just met,” she said as if that mattered. “And... and right here?.”

Neo was pretty damned good at getting a message across with just her body, but even she was stumped on how to say ‘we’re literally on a bed,’ without making a full production.

“Look, I’m flattered, really. You’re a nice girl, and you’re pretty,” Hood said and Neo let her go on because flattery was always a good way to butter her up. “It’s just that....”

Neo placed a delicate finger over Hood’s mouth, then wiped the layer of melting ice cream that surrounded the girl’s mouth off with the tip. She brought her hand back up and licked it clean.

“Ahhh.” Hood’s eyes went very, very wide and they darted towards the door. “Oh oh.”

Neo turned, a hand on Hood’s chest to help her look over her shoulder. Were the owners back? Was she going to have to deal with them? Would she tie them up and make them watch? 

Then the door slammed open.

Roman moved in first, followed shortly after by the Cinder woman who was earning her namesake if the fire in her eyes was any indication. Both of them froze and for a moment the tableau held, everyone staring at everyone else.

Neo shifted around until both legs were off to one side, then she crossed one foot over the other and placed both hands on her knees in what was a perfectly dainty pose, even if she was still sitting on Hood’s lap. She batted her eyelashes at the new guests.

Cinder’s mouth opened, closed with a click, then opened again. “Akelarre,” she said.

“Yes, Cinder?” Akelarre said.

“Did you just leave a meeting in order to...” Cinder paused as though searching for words, then looked around the room, paying particular attention to the piles of jewelry on the bed next to slowly melting tubs of ice cream. 

“To go on a robbery date with your new friend?” Roman tried.

“Yes, quite.”

“Ah,” Hood, no, Akelarre--and wasn’t that a pretty name--said. “No?”

Neo nodded. 

“Neo!” Akelarre said. She started to wave her arms as if to deny everything. “It wasn’t a date. We didn’t do anything.”

Cinder looked at her, then at the way Neo was still sitting on her lap. “I can see that. Did she trip and accidentally land in your lap?” There was a bit of a twitch in the corner of the woman’s eye. 

Neo shook her head. She raised both hands, pointed with her index finger, then made a circle with the thumb and forefinger of her other hand. The index finger dipped into the circle and back out while Neo’s eyebrows wiggled.

Akelarre’s squeak was adorable, as was the stunningly red shade her cheeks developed. 

Cinder was not impressed.

“I, I got blackmail!” Akelarre shouted as if that would make everything better. She grabbed a file and flung it towards Cinder.

The bed was soon covered in pictures of hairy men in the buff. 

Cinder was not impressed.

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway. 

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Fifteen

“This,” Cinder said as she placed a phone on the table before Akelarre. It looked sleek and shiny next to her half-finished breakfast. “Is a scroll. You’re obviously intelligent enough to figure out how to use it, but if you have any questions then feel free to call Emerald or Mercury. They are both already entered into your contacts.”

Akelarre pushed her bowl of Pumpkin Pete’s to one side and dragged the scroll closer so that it rested before her. “What’s the difference between a scroll and a phone?”

“Scrolls use the CCT network and are locked to a single person’s biometrics after initial use. You’ll see a display that shows your Aura levels and other information after using it for a while,” Cinder explained. “Also, no one has used a phone in decades, it might be best if you avoid the term in public. You wouldn’t want to accidentally reveal your... age.” The last she said while eyeing Akelarre with just a hint of accusation in her amber eyes.

“Are you calling me old?” Akelarre asked. She made sure not to change her tone from anything other than simple, innocent curiosity. The mites she had placed all across Cinder’s body felt her tense.

“Of course not, merely isolated from the rest of Remnant,” Cinder said without missing a beat. “It’s perfectly natural that you would perhaps be misinformed about certain things. If you have any questions I would be honoured to help you.”

“Salem doesn’t have one of these, does she?” she asked as she slid the scroll to one side and brought her bowl back to before her.

Cinder shook her head and sat down properly across from Akelarre. She pulled the box of cereal over and poured herself a bowl, frowning all the while at the colourful food before her. “She does not. Salem doesn’t trust the CCT network and for good reason. Some of her enemies are well placed to intercept any messages to and from the Lands of Darkness. She does use Seers to communicate. I have one in my luggage, if you wish to use it.”

“You have a tentacle Grimm in your luggage?” Akelarre asked.

Cinder gave her a flat look, a spoonful of blue and green and yellow cereal hovering by her mouth.

“Would it be possible to use it? I’d like to say hi to Salem,” she said.

“I don’t see any harm. I don’t usually report this soon to her but she might appreciate knowing that our plans with Torchwick are advancing.”

The rest of their breakfast was quiet, with only the occasional beep from Akelarre’s new scroll as she toyed with its startup menus. Emerald slid into the room at some point, sparing a moment to glare at Arelarre with bleary eyes before dragging herself over to the coffee machine. Mercury did much the same but without the glare.

When Akelarre was done, she stood and placed her bowl in the sink, wiped her face, and walked back over to the kitchen table. “So...”

“Yes, yes, I’m coming,” Cinder said. She pushed her own bowl over towards Emerald where the girl paused to stare at it like a puppy that had just been given an entire box full of balls.

Akelarre moved over to the living room, a wide open area decorated quite lavishly with thick carpets and scenic paintings on every wall. A flat-screen monitor sat on one wall opposite a huge, fluffy couch that waited between two overflowing flower vases. Like the rest of the mansion Cinder had brought her to it was a little over the top, but not so much that she minded.

Cinder returned a few moments later, followed by a Seer that floated behind her whilst emitting its strange low keening. “I suppose this will do. It’s not as private or secure as I would like but there’s no chamber in this home really suited to the task.”

“Also there’s a couch,” Akelarre said before tapping the couch in question right next to where she sat.

“Indeed,” Cinder said. She motioned the Seer over to near where the television was and began setting things up. Akelarre, meanwhile, brought in a few flying bugs of the non-Grimm variety and had them climb along the Seer’s tentacles. “There we go,” Cinder said as she leaned away from the Seer, sat up straight and waited.

The Seer’s black innards shifted and warped like the stars at night seen through a kaleidoscope. Red flashes and black blurs shot by before the image twisted, and from the shadowy darkness came a pair of red eyes. The scene on the Seer refocused and soon Akelarre was able to see Salem in all her glory, the book-covered shelves of her library behind her. “Cinder,” Salem said. “And Akelarre. I didn’t expect you to report so soon.”

“I wanted to see you again!” Akelarre said with mounting enthusiasm. She didn’t miss the tiny twitch of the queen’s lips.

“Just a basic report, my Queen. I wouldn’t usually bother you so soon after leaving, but after certain events,” Cinder said, shooting Akelarre a look from the corner of her eye, “I thought it prudent to inform you now.”

Salem’s attention sharpened. “Very well. Report, Cinder dear.”

Cinder nodded once and Akelarre was almost surprised that she didn’t salute. “We arrived at the summer home near Vale within half an hour of our predicted time. My first contact in the Vale underworld, Roman Torchwick, was present and waiting for us along with a... companion. A young woman named Neo Politan.”

“Wait, her name is like the ice cream?” Akelarre asked.

“Yes, yes it is,” Cinder said. If she sounded a little strained, well, Akelarre wasn’t going to comment. “I’m surprised you didn’t know, seeing as how intimate you two became.”

Akelarre felt the skin of her face warming up and her eyes watering. She shot Salem a glance only to see the older woman focused on her, then tilted her head down and used a spider or two in her hair to hide her blush. “It’s not like that.”

“Then she molested you against your will?” Cinder asked.

“What.” The word wasn’t a question. It was a single-word statement, a declaration that the full story would be told right then and there or no amount of gods were going to help. Salem’s eyes were smoldering through the connection.

Akelarre huffed. “I didn’t get molested.”

“As you wish,” Cinder said.

“Akelarre, dear,” Salem said through the Seer. “Could you please explain this in... greater detail.”

The warmth in her face returned and she was having a hard time finding the right words to parse what she wanted to say. “I made a friend. Her name is Neo. She was very nice. We robbed a councilor’s house together and found all sorts of blackmail. That’s all.”

“You met someone... then robbed a house with her.” Salem stared for a while, an eyebrow climbing up slowly. “Perhaps I have been out of touch with the rest of the world for too long if that is how young people get to know each other today. Regardless. Tell me of this molestation.” Her eyes narrowed.

“Neo is just very clingy.”

“She was riding you. On a bed.”

“We were completely dressed.”

“And covered in ice cream. And jewelry.”

Akelarre crossed her arms and shot a glare at Cinder. “I’ll put spiders in your bed.”

Cinder’s mouth shut with a click.

Salem made her happy sound, one hand raising to hover demurely before her mouth. “Girls, behave,” she chided.

“Yes, ma’am,” they said in stereo.

“Cinder, what are your plans from here on, and has this changed them in any way?”

Cinder shook her head. “No, ma’am. I’m meeting my second contact in two days time near the ruins of Mountain Glenn. The White Fang have an encampment there.”

“I should probably meet Roman again,” Akelarre said. “I still had a lot of questions for him if I’m going to take over the world.”

“The underworld, you mean,” Cinder corrected.

Akelarre nodded. “That too.”

Salem shook her head. “Very well. I’m glad you called and that you seem to both get along so well. Remember to rely on each other; we are, after all, on the same side. Goodbye.”

The vision through the Seer’s head darkened and it wobbled a little.

Cinder sighed and her posture, which had been perfect, slumped forwards. “I’ll arrange transportation to wherever Roman is for tomorrow morning.”

“You’re willing to help?” Akelarre asked.

“Frankly, whatever time you spend with him is time I have to act upon my own plans. They are not mutually exclusive goals, and I hope that my aiding you now might come around later.”

“You’re being very open,” Akelarre pointed out.

“It’s as Salem said, we are on the same side,” Cinder said as she stood.

Akelarre felt a smile tugging at her lips and Cinder’s eyes widened.

But for all of her vaunted skill, Cinder was too slow to avoid Akelarre’s hug.

***

“And if a stranger walks up to you?” her dad asked.

“I tell them that I shouldn't talk to strangers,” Ruby recited.

Taiyang nodded, his frown still firmly in place. “If the stranger offers you cookies?”

“Run away and tell Yang to kill them,” Ruby said.

Her dad blinked, looking ready to deny that, but then reconsidered. “Maybe not kill,” he said. “And if the stranger turns out to be the evil queen of the Grimm?”

Now it was Ruby’s turn to frown. “Run away and let Uncle Qrow deal with it,” she grumbled.

“That’s the spirit,” Uncle Qrow said from where he was flopped on a bench with an open flask.

Ruby crossed her arms under her chest and looked away from her family. The view, at least, was worth it. The ferry they were on was cutting through the waves of the sea between Patch and Vale, choppy waters lapping up against the side of the hull while dozens of people onboard stared out in hopes of seeing their destination, or just loitered about, waiting.

More than one woman was looking their way, but whether that was to eye up Uncle Qrow or her dad didn’t matter to Ruby. Both options were icky. “It’s not fair,” she finally said. “Akelarre was super nice.”

“I know that, sweetie,” Taiyang said. “But she’s... what she is.”

“What your old man is trying to say,” Qrow barged in, earning a squawk from her dad about how he wasn’t old, “is that she was probably trying to trick you. She even stole your cookie jar.”

“She wasn’t!” Ruby said. “A-and it’s okay. I wouldn’t have minded her taking the cookies,” she added while hoping that they wouldn’t notice the reddening of her cheeks.

“Yeah, she sure did steal those cookies well,” Yang, who so far had been pretty quiet, said with a perfectly flat tone. “She even left the empty jar in Zwei’s doghouse, the fiend. I say next time we see her we punch her out, empty her pockets and spend it all on cookies which we won’t share with anyone.”

“You’re just jealous because I made a friend!”

Yang jumped in her seat. “I’m not!”

“Are too!”

“Girls,” Taiyang said. Ruby could tell he was about to start talking them down, probably with a whole speech about how disappointed he was with the way they were acting, and then she’d feel super guilty and even Yang would end up quiet.

She was saved by a melodic ringing that came from the pleats of her skirt.

Everyone turned to her as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll. There was a message flashing on the front under a banner asking her if she wanted to accept or not.

Incoming Call from: Akelarre

“Oh no,” she said.

“Who is it?” her dad asked.

She turned the scroll over even as it continued to ring. Three curious pairs of eyes locked onto the screen, then her face.

“Don’t answer,” Qrow said at the same time as she pressed answer.

She blinked at her uncle and gave him a sheepish smile as she brought the scroll to her ear. “Uh, hi?”

“Ruby, is that you?” Akelarre’s smooth, always calm voice asked.

“Ah, yup, yup it’s me,” she said.

Yang was shaking her head, face buried under her hands.

“So, I just arrived in Vale last night with some... friends. And they got me a scroll! So I thought I would give you a call and see what you’re up to.”

“You just arrived in Vale? That’s cool. I’m heading there now.”

“You are?” Akelarre asked.

“Y-yup. My sister’s going to--” she cut off when everyone next to her started waving their hands in denial. “She’s uh, g-going to the dentist.”

“Oh. I suppose oral health is important.”

Yang started to knock her head against a pillar.

“Y-yeah. You know Yang, she loves her candy.”

“Well, if you’re in Vale with nothing to do, did you want to hang out tomorrow? I have an appointment in the morning but should be free in the afternoon.”

“Ah,” Ruby said. Taiyang, Uncle Qrow and even Yang were all shaking their heads, telling her in no uncertain terms that she should refuse. “S-sure?” she said.

“Brilliant! I’ll meet you in the city square at one. Don’t worry about finding me. I’ll find you first. Anyway, we can talk more tomorrow. I don’t really like these phone things much. Bye!”

“Bye,” she said before lowering her scroll and sighing in relief when the screen went black.

She looked up to three very unamused looks. “Eep.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway.

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Sixteen

It was actually making Akelarre feel rather nostalgic to walk next to the piers and jutting cement walkways of the shipping district, the lapping of water a sound that at once had her mind trying to fill in so many blanks and yet did wonders to calm her down. Even the faint scent of grease and oil in the air was calling back snippets of memories that appeared for just a moment before being snatched away.

The trip to Vale had been anticlimactic. Mercury drove her to the gates and she walked past the guards without any fuss. They were there to protect from Grimm, not perfectly ordinary young women like her. 

The directions she followed on her scroll were handy, as was the device itself, but her screen of Grimmsects was even more useful at keeping an eye out for her surroundings.

At long last she veered away from the piers and onto a long service road, leaving the bright sun behind as she walked into the shadows cast by tall buildings. Finally, she arrived at a brick building with arched windows that were blocked from the inside and a doorway flanked by two men in pristine suits. It didn’t fit the surroundings at all; too clean, too shiny and the neon sign hanging above the door shone with a purplish light that just felt wrong in an industrial area. 

The Club was where Roman supposedly had his base, or at least, that’s what he had told Cinder when asked. She already had a few thousand insects of the normal sort scouting out the interior as she walked to the front door. “Hello,” she said.

“Hello young Miss,” one of the guards said. “How can I be of service?”

She smiled at him. “I’m here to see Mister Torchwick.”

The tension in the guard’s shoulders was there and gone in a heartbeat. “I’m afraid you’re barking up the wrong tree, Miss.” He smiled and tipped his hat back, brown eyes scanning her up and down as though searching for weapons.

She tilted her head to one side, hood pooling on her shoulders as she did. “No, he’s in there,” she said. And it was true. Unless Roman had a cigar-smoking twin brother that also liked to hang around Neo while sitting in the VIP lounge, in which case she was ready to admit to being wrong. 

“I’m sorry Miss, The Club is closed until tonight, and I’m certain that Mister Torchwick isn’t here besides.”

Akelarre frowned. She had to get to him. How foolish would she look if she wasn’t able to do even that much? By the same token, she didn’t want to hurt the guards at the door. They were probably Roman’s subordinates and he seemed the sort to take it personally if she forced her way past them. “I really need to see Roman,” she said.

The two guards shared a look and the younger of the two, the one talking to her, shrugged and lowered his hand from his side where he had been reaching for a dagger tucked under his coat. “How about I escort you inside and you can meet Junior. He runs The Club. He might be able to help you, yeah?” 

Her frown turned into a grin. “Thanks!”

The entrance of The Club was just a short passage that ended at a pair of red doors which opened onto a huge dance floor. It was empty for now, no one dancing to the slow thrum of electronic music playing in the background.

Along the edges were normal booths and a huge bar that ran across the left side of the room, with drinks on racks behind a counter where stools waited for customers. 

“Hey Chris, who’s this?”

Two young women were walking towards Akelarre, twins by the looks of them, one in a poofy red dress and another who was slightly taller in heels and an equally poofy white dress. They flanked her, Red to her left and White to her right. 

“This young Miss wanted to see Mister Torchwick,” the guard said. “But I told her he wasn’t here and that I’d bring her to Junior instead.”

“Hrm,” the one in red said. “We’ll take care of her from here.” 

Seeing as he was dismissed, the guard bowed once and stepped back out of the way and towards the doors. Akelarre watched him go for a moment before turning back to the two girls. “Hi, I’m Akelarre. Roman is waiting for me,” she said.

White snorted and looked at her sister while crossing her arms. “Doubt it.”

“I don’t think Roman would want someone like you,” Red said as she eyed Akelarre up and down. “You’re not quite womanly enough, if you catch my meaning.”

“Maybe you should draw her a picture, she seems a little too slow to get it otherwise,” White added. 

Red laughed and it sounded off to Akelarre’s ear. “I’ll ask Neo if she has crayons laying around.”

“Neither of you is very professional,” Akelarre said. “I hope you don’t actually work for Roman.”

They bristled at that. “Who do you think you are?” Red asked.

Akelarre smiled, aware that they could see her lips pulling back even with her hood on. “I’m Akelarre. I like bugs. Do you like bugs?”

“What?” Red asked. White just scowled in disgust.

Akelarre flung her Grimm arm out, and with that motion two black forms zipped out from the sleeves of her cloak and shot towards the sisters. Neither reacted in time to stop the heavy, clinging weight of a bug from landing on their chests.

As one, both sisters looked down.

The black, bone covered tarantula wasps on their bellies looked up. 

“Don’t scream,” Akelarre said, her tone even and calm. “They get really excited when people scream or are afraid.” She had the wasps wiggle their butts a little for emphasis, and to show off the three-inch-long barbed stingers they had. “I’m going to go see Roman now.”

They two girls were hyperventilating by the time she reached the far end of the room and started making her way upstairs. Taking pity on them, she had her little cazadors fly off the twins and zip back towards her. She wouldn’t want the twins to accidentally squish one of her cuddlewasp buddies.

Climbing up the stairs landed her in a little corridor, rooms with numbers on their doors off to one side and bigger rooms with small bars in their corners and tables and couches on the other. The numbered rooms all had beds in them, very dirty ones judging by the sorts of bugs she was finding.

Wrinkling her nose a little, she pushed on towards the last of the VIP sort of rooms, opened the door, and stepped right in.

Roman was halfway out of his seat, cane coming up towards Akelarre when he registered who it was and slumped back down. Neo, for her part, had disappeared from Akelarre’s vision, but the bugs she’d placed on the diminutive girl were moving around the room. “Hello, Roman,” she said before turning to a completely barren and unremarkable corner. “Hi Neo!”

Neo waved at her, while still not being visually present, and Akelarre waved back. She was amused to see Neo looking around as if she was being pranked.

“Do you make a habit of scaring people like that?” Roman asked.

“Not usually on purpose,” Akelarre replied a little sheepishly. “It does happen often, though.”

“Right,” Roman said as he got to his feet and stretched. He gestured at a table sitting at the far end of the room next to a large one-way window overlooking the dance floor. “Want to take a seat?”

“Of course,” Akelarre said. She turned towards Neo. “Will you be joining us?”

The world splintered like a pane of glass cracking to reveal Neo standing with her arms crossed and a dangerous pout in place. 

“You can see through her illusions?” Roman asked as he took a seat. “Oh, she’s going to love that.”

“It’s not so much that I can see through them. It’s just that I can still feel where she is despite not seeing her.” Akelarre pulled out a chair across from Roman and sat down, legs together and hands on knees. “Should we just start?” she asked.

Roman leaned back into his own seat, pulled out a cigar from in his jacket followed by a zippo, then lit up. “Cinder tells me you wanted to chat?”

“Not just chat, Mr. Torchwick, I want to plan.”

He nodded and made a waving motion with his cigar-filled hand that left smoky rings in the air. “Yeah, I remember you want to take over Vale’s underworld.”

She nodded. “I will.”

Neo, who looked as if she had gotten all of her pouting done, stomped over to Akelarre’s side, wiggled her behind a little, then flopped down onto Akelarre’s lap. Akelarre only just moved her hands out of the way fast enough for them not to be squished by Neo. Neo’s head didn’t even reach Akelarre’s chin from where she sat.

“Yeah, well sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but that’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, and the old kingpins that are already in place won’t take kindly to a little girl--no offence--trying to take their hard earned positions out from under them. Even I don’t cross them lightly and I’m the best.”

“I have resources that should help,” Akelarre said as she wrapped both arms around Neo and brought her close. Neo was turning out to be a very cuddly friend... “And time is not an issue, though I would rather start sooner than later.”

“Uh-huh,” he said. “And why are you trying to do this, exactly?”

“A friend asked me to, as a favour of sorts.”

Roman just blinked, then looked at Neo who shrugged in return. “A favour?”

“She helped me when she didn’t need to, gave me a home and acted like a mother that I didn’t deserve. I owe her a lot. And it’s for the betterment of mankind that I do this, so it’s not like it’s something I would be against to begin with.”

“Right,” Roman said even though it was pretty clear that he didn’t care. “Well I’m not going to be the one to stand between a girl and her delusional dream. What sort of resources are we talking here?”

“I have lots of money,” she said and Roman nodded at that. “Then I have myself. I’m pretty good in a fight. Then we have all the Grimm. I don’t control all of them, but those I don’t control will at least listen to me. Oh, and we have Cinder, who is very competent.”

“Wait, back up, sweetheart. The Grimm?”

Akelarre gestured and dozens of black and white Grimm slid out from her cloak and clothes and down the back of her hair, all of them congregating on the table. Spiders and wasps and bullet ants and more besides. “The Grimm,” Akelarre confirmed. 

Roman had backed up in his seat, cigar forgotten in one hand. Neo, for her part, was looking between the Grimm and up to Akelarre’s face under the hood. She decided to help by having one of her spiders pull the hood off. Roman’s eyes widened at the sight of her face.

“Shit,” he said. She could sense him reaching for his cane and Neo tensing on her lap.

“There’s no need to worry, I’m not here to hurt anyone,” Akelarre said.

“Of course not, you’re just a Grimm. Grimm are all perfectly cuddly, aren’t they? I was just getting up to go pet a Beowolf is all,” he said as he rose out of his seat.

“I wouldn’t, their fur is all bristly and hard. Unless you pet them on the tummy where it’s softer.”

“I think you’re missing the point here,” he said.

Akelarre sighed and tightened her hug on Neo. “No, I don’t think I have. Sit down, Mr. Torchwick. I was telling the truth when I said that I wasn’t here to hurt you.”

“You’re a Grimm, I probably look like a tasty snack to you,” he said.

“Was that innuendo?” she asked.

Roman blinked slowly and even Neo leaned back and perked an eyebrow. 

“Or not. Anyway, Mr. Torchwick. If I wanted to hurt Vale I would probably just sabotage a section of the wall, then have a few thousand Grimm rush at it in the middle of the night. With the number of Grimm around the city the defenders would run out of ammunition far sooner than I would run out of Grimm. But that’s not why I’m here.” With a mental command she had all of the Grimmsects on the table scurry away and back onto her person. “I’m here to take over Vale’s underworld, and I want your help doing it.”

Neo poked Akelarre under one boob and when she looked down it was to see Neo pointing at her own face, one eyebrow raised as though curious. 

“Oh, yeah, you can help too, Neo!” 

“Wait, Neo, you’re okay with this?” Roman asked. 

Neo’s response was to shrug one shoulder.

“Are you just saying that because you want to sleep with her?”

Neo pressed her fingers together and fluttered her eyelashes innocently.

“S-see,” Akelarre said. “It’s nothing like that. Neo just trusts me.” 

Neo dropped her hands and gave her a flat look. 

Suddenly Akelarre felt three people walking towards their room, the twins from before and another man who was exceedingly tall. “We’re about to have company,” she said while pulling on her hood. 

The door cracked open and the three walked in. The girls took positions on either side of the tall man while focusing a pair of glares onto Akelarre, and the tall man crossed his arms. “Hey, Roman,” he said.

“Good morning, Junior. Glad to see you joining us on this merry occasion. Your distraction is immensely useful.”

“Hello,” Akelarre said.

Junior eyed her, then Neo who was sitting cradled on her lap. “You’re the one that hurt Melanie and Militia?” 

Akelarre shook her head. “I didn’t hurt them at all,” she said. “They were being impolite, so I tried to be nice to them and showed off some of my pets.”

“And your pets happen to be car-sized bugs?” Junior asked.

“Some of them, yes, but the ones I showed those two were much smaller than that.” She smiled at Junior, then gestured to one of the empty seats at the table. “Do you want to sit down? I was just finished convincing Roman that helping me take over Vale’s underground was in the best interests of humanity.”

“I think I could use more convincing,” Roman said.

Akelarre shook her head. “Now now, Roman, think of it this way; you’ll be providing me with valuable resources at an early stage. It’s the perfect time to invest.” 

“This isn’t a business.”

She tilted her head to one side, chin rubbing against Neo’s brown and pink hair. “It isn’t? I always found that business and crime and government were all quite similar. They are all very human things, after all.”

Junior cleared his throat. “Alright, so the bug thing was an unfortunate accident, right?”

“It wasn’t an accident, but it was unfortunate,” Akelarre agreed. 

“Yeah, well try to keep unfortunate things to a minimum while in my club, alright?” He seemed ready to leave and drag his two incensed subordinates with him but paused to give Roman a look. “You can vouch for her?”

“Between you and me, if she wanted the twins dead they wouldn’t be shaking their pretty little fists at anyone right now.”

“Right,” Junior said. “That’s good enough for me. Pardon the interruption then.”

“Of course.” She gave them a little wave. “Have a nice afternoon.”

When Junior pulled the door shut behind him Roman turned back to her. The distraction had served to calm him down, at least, and maybe so did the act of hiding all of her bug friends. It still took a while before he spoke. “I don’t get you,” he said with a point of his cigar in her general direction.

“That’s okay, Mister Torchwick,” Akelarre said with another beaming smile. “As long as you can give me what I need, then we’ll all be fine in the end.”

“And what you need is information. Fine,” he said, before tapping his cigar against the rim of an ashtray. “What do you need to know?”

“Who leads the underground, how is it run, what kinds of services are available and how does the average person deal with them?”

He took another puff and blew out a perfect ring before he started. “Vale’s underground, as you call it, ain’t so much of an underground as you would think. You can divide it into three parts, I suppose. The gangs who actually run things, the folks that make money in interesting ways, and the bastards at the top who make sure nothing gets too complicated. I guess you might call info brokers and launderers and smugglers a fourth part, but they usually mind their own business.”

“That sounds perfectly normal,” Akelarre said.

“Yeah, sure. See, Vale ain’t Atlas. We’ve got plenty more thieves and drug peddlers than we have knife fights and assaults. The council’s mostly to blame for the state of things. Drugs are dandy as long as they keep folks happy, so smaller gangs that sell weak stuff only get slapped on the wrist. Those that sell things like Turkish Delight and Cauldron Cakes get hit hard. Addicts tend to lose their marbles and that attracts the Grimm. But I probably don’t need to tell you about that.”

“So how is everything organized?”

“It’s barely organized. But if you’re looking for some sort of structure, there are three gangs that have managed to tough it out. The Merchants, the Suits, the Knights of Vale, and if you’re feeling really generous you might call the Strays a gang.”

“The... Merchants. Are they a bunch of druggies who spend half their day high and the other half making everyone around them miserable?” Akelarre asked.

Roman blinked. “No. They’re actually fairly respectable. For criminals. Mostly they do money laundering, some smuggling, and they have high end gambling halls here and there in the nicer parts of the city. I hear their boss is a council member.”

“Oh,” Akelarre said. “Well, it’s an unfortunate name.”

“Merchant? They sell things. It’s a perfectly reasonable name,” Roman said.

“Right, right. The others?”

“The suits are based in this very building,” he said with a grand gesture. “Junior runs them. They’re nice enough. Some buying and selling of good acquired in interesting ways, some lighter drugs. Nothing too heinous.”

“Of course not,” she said.

“The Strays are some faunus that hang around the docks. Wannabe White Fang but with none of the backbone. And the Knights. The Knights are bad business. They’ll pick up kids from the towns around Vale, talk them up on the idea of living in the big city, then use them to make the crap they peddle on street corners. Strong stuff. Nasty stuff. The VPD are always cracking down on them but they’re like cockroaches.”

“So, instead of wiping the slate clean I could just subjugate the Merchants and the Suits, then wipe out the Knights?” Akelarre asked. She started to run her hands through Neo’s hair; she wondered what the girl used to keep her hair so soft.

“I’m not sure if everyone would agree to that,” he said.

She gave him her best smile. “I'm sure they’ll come to agree with my way of doing things.”

***

Some made up information because canon lore was lacking. 

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway. 

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Seventeen

Warning: Contains Handholding

***

Ruby Rose kinda wished she was facing off against a horde of Beowolves. Maybe two of them. With some Ursa on the side. 

If that was the case, then at least she’d know what she was doing.

Instead she was standing in the middle of a plaza in Vale, right next to a statue of some guy who was probably dead a long time ago, and was fidgeting in her combat boots while the sun baked her head. 

It was, in the end, probably all Yang’s fault.

Taiyang was super against the idea, but Yang and Uncle Qrow conspired behind his back and the next thing Ruby knew she was being shoved into some clothes that Yang swore up and down ‘looked really cute’ and then was made to walk over to the plaza.

So there she was. One Ruby Rose, almost abandoned by her family if it wasn’t for the glimpses of bright yellow hair she caught through the crowd every so often and the faint scent of booze that not even a hundred pedestrians could mask. Dressed in jeans that had been cut off way too short and a red t-shirt, the only holdover from her combat uniform her boots and hood. 

At least she still had Crescent Rose strapped to her back.

She was just wondering if Akelarre had maybe cancelled and decided that she had better things to do than waste time with Ruby (and why was it that the thought had made her sad, she should be happy about it!) when she spotted a white figure moving through the crowd. 

The way Akelarre moved was... weird. Maybe she didn’t notice last time because they were in her home and she wasn’t paying attention, but in a crowd like the one around the plaza, Akelarre’s motions felt off. Not enough that anyone not looking would notice, but still off. She moved like some of those early model Atlas robots did. It was like watching a stop motion video. Akelarre never had to look to slow down or speed up to avoid all the people walking past her. 

Then she was standing before Ruby and any intelligent thought she had fled. “Uh,” Ruby started on a high note. “Hi?”

Akelarre’s hood moved back as if of its own accord to reveal her mouth and just a hint of her red eyes. “Hello, Ruby,” she said.

“So, um, hi!” she said, then wanted to bash her head into the statue behind her because she had already said that. 

Akelarre just gave her a small smile and tilted her head to one side. “Are you okay?”

Ruby nodded her head so hard her hair almost went flying. “I’m fine. Perfectly alright. A-okay-dokey. Everything is great.”

Her sorta-kinda-maybe friend blinked at her. “Alright then,” she said. “So, I didn’t really draw up much of a plan, and I don’t know Vale really well. Did you have somewhere you wanted to go?” 

Ruby took a deep breath and then said the first thing that came to mind. “This isn’t a date!” 

A bunch of people stopped in their tracks as if a bubble of condensed mortification had formed around Ruby and everyone who heard just had to stop and stare. She felt all of her blood rushing to her face all at once.

It was definitely Yang’s fault.

“O-okay?” Akelarre said. “I didn’t think it was going to be a date anyway?” she asked. Ruby wanted to know why that had been a question. It shouldn’t have been a question. Had Yang infected Akelarre too?

“G-good. Because it isn’t.”

‘Okay.”

“Yeah.”

Akelarre looked around as the crowd kept on doing crowd things, then shrugged. “Want something to drink?”

“Yeah, I could use something to drink,” Ruby said. “But not alcohol.”

“Wouldn’t that be against the law in the first place?”

It was Ruby’s turn to blink dumbly. “There are laws for that?”

Akelarre shrugged. “It doesn’t seem smart to give alcohol to minors. At least, that’s what I was told. I think.” She started walking towards the edge of the plaza where a couple of mobile booths had been placed and where bored teenagers were selling hot dogs and slushies with the sort of enthusiasm Ruby had when doing her homework.

They reached the end of the line and both of them ordered the same thing. Ruby was elated when Akelarre let her pay for her slushie and then handed over a few lien for her own. If Akelarre didn’t pay for her meal then it wasn’t really a date. That’s how it worked in the books she didn’t steal from under Yang’s bed.

“Now what?” she asked between sips of ice-cold sugar water. 

“Hrm,” Akelarre said, straw in mouth as she looked around them. “You said you liked weapons a lot, right?”

Ruby gave her friend every ounce of her sugar-fueled attention.

“Do you know any shops around here? I don’t actually have any weapons at all except for my little friends and I don’t think using them in public is a good idea.”

“I know all the places,” Ruby declared. She pointed to the far end of the plaza where the best shops were and started walking. She had only taken three steps when she felt a cool hand slip into hers. Ruby’s entire body locked up and if it wasn’t for the hand tightening she might have tripped and lost her slushie. “W-what are you doing?” she asked, gaze fixed on the pale fingers intertwined with her own.

“I don’t want to lose you in the crowd,” Akelarre said without a hint of guile.

“O-oh okay,” Ruby said. Yang did that kind of thing too sometimes. It was perfectly okay. Totally platonic. 

She stared ahead and didn’t look at all the couples walking by hand in hand. And she pointedly ignored the familiar voice that squealed, “My sister lost her handginity!”

The shop she brought Akelarre to was a huge building just off one of the main roads in Vale. Blood Bath and Beyond wasn’t just a store that sold weapons, it was the store. It towered five stories up with windows behind which huge, high-resolution pictures of guns, mechashift weapons and mannequins in combat gear stood. It was Ruby’s favourite place to go window shopping for new ideas on how to improve her baby.

They walked into the front door and Ruby paused to take in a deep breath through her nose. Gunpowder, Dusts of every sort, oil. It smelled like what she imagined heaven was like. 

“Hello young Misses,” a smooth voice said off to their side. The man was tall and dressed in a well tailored suit, the store’s logo on a pin stuck to his lapel. He smiled at the pair of them. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No, we’re just looking,” Ruby said. She could almost see the slump in the man’s shoulder at that. She hoped that they wouldn’t be kicked out of the store for ‘being too enthusiastic’ and ‘not buying a damned thing’ like last time.

“I actually need some weapons, but we haven’t figured out what sort yet,” Akelarre came to her rescue.

“Take as much time as you need, Miss,” the clerk said with a wave towards the depth of the store. “If you need anything at all, you have but to ask.”

Akelarre smiled and pulled Ruby deeper into the store. Walls of guns, racks of magazines, tubes filled to the brim with weapons-grade Dust of every colour. Prebuilt weapons from three dozen different manufacturers. 

Ruby licked her lips before she drooled all over the floor like an overly excited Zwei. “Okay, okay, so what kind of weapon do you need?” she asked.

“Hrm,” Akelarre said. “I think I would like a knife,” she said.

“Awesome, follow me!” Ruby pulled Akelarre along, the older girl giggling as she jogged to keep up, hand still firmly in Ruby’s grip as they raced to the end of the floor then up an escalator to the melee weapons section. 

They crossed rows of polearms and swords and war hammers before arriving in a section with floor-to-ceiling displays of knives. Ruby let go of Akelarre’s hand, her own just a little sweaty from the contact, and raced forwards to point out different styles of knives and their pros and cons.

If things didn’t work out and she couldn’t become a huntress, then Ruby was going to live here. And maybe she could even get a job selling weapons and weapon accessories.

Akelarre settled on a very simple mechashift knife that could turn into a sort of baton, the cover folding into the handle and the base and coming out with a snap to reveal a wickedly sharp single-edged blade. It wasn’t the coolest knife in the store, but Akelarre said that she liked simple weapons because they weren’t as likely to break.

Ruby knew that Akelarre was new to Vale, so she allowed the heresy against proper mechashift weapons to pass. 

“So do we bring this to a counter?” Akelarre asked as she hefted the knife again.

“Nope,” Ruby said as she took the knife from Akelarre’s hand and placed it back on the rack. She pulled out her scroll and connected to the store’s network, then scanned the plate next to the knife. Detailed information about it appeared on her screen with a ‘Buy’ button at the bottom. “See? That way you don’t need to bring tons of lien into the store. It even looks like they slashed the price on that model,” she said. Shoulder Yang gave her a high-five.

“Ah, okay,” Akelarre said. She pulled out her own scroll (a top of the line and brand new hunter model, Ruby noticed) and scanned the knife the same way Ruby had. She then fiddled with her scroll for a moment before smiling at Ruby. “Okay, so I paid for it with the money Cinder gave me. Now what?”

“Now they’ll have it in a box by the entrance for you. Unless you want them to ship it somewhere. I guess if you buy a lot of things that would make more sense.”

Akelarre hummed. “I think I like this system,” she said. “Did you need anything else in the store?”

“No, not really,” Ruby said, but she started looking at all the shiny weapons around them anyway.

“Did you want to go look at parts for, uh, her name is Crescent Rose, right?”

Ruby squirmed on the spot, then gave in and nodded. “That would be really cool.”

Grinning, Akelarre stepped past Ruby and started making her way up one floor, Ruby hot on her heels. 

And then they were in heaven. 

Barrel modifications, mechashift components, firing mechanisms and huge displays showing off the newest and greatest trends for hunter type weaponry. Ruby zipped from one display to another, a trail of rose petals in her wake. 

She stopped before one display in particular. Floating in a field created by two gravity Dust emitters was a C41 Timberbeowolf Night and Day Optics System. The scope spun lazily in a circle, its wide lens glinting in the multitude of lights embedded into the bulletproof display case.

“What’s that?” Akelarre asked.

Ruby wiped her chin. “That, is Remnant’s most advanced optics and fire control system.”

“It’s a scope?” Akelarre asked.

Ruby gasped. “It’s not just a scope. That’s like, like calling Crescent Rose just a gun. No, that’s an optics system. Voice activated zoom with pre-programmable settings, full night time capabilities, anti-glare systems on the main screen, a wireless display system that can send real time footage of any shot you take to a paired scroll. It has night vision, heat vision, x-ray vision, Grimm vision and normal sights. It can track moving targets, assign priorities, and has a built-in communications suite that can track how much ammunition is left in your gun’s magazine. It can be coupled to an ammo changer system to fire custom rounds. You just need to name the kind of bullet you want to fire and it switches it automatically. It has an in-built AI that can learn from its user. It even has wifi.”

“So it’s a very good scope?” Akelarre sounded a little overwhelmed, as she should be in the presence of such magnificence.

Ruby huffed. “It’s the best. It’s built in Atlas, but was designed by a team of Remnant’s best marksman over the course of two decades. It’s the culmination of an entire series of really, really good scopes. I have a C20 on my baby and it’s already super good. With this, you could aim and hit the eye of a Beowolf, from three thousand meters away, while jumping off a Bullhead. With a throwing knife.” She swallowed. “No offence?”

“None taken,” Akelarre said. She swiped her scroll at the barcode below the scope and its statistics appeared on the screen. Ruby leaned forwards to read them. Then Akelarre swiped up and touched the ‘buy’ button with her thumb.

Ruby’s entire body froze like when Yang had used up all the hot water cleaning her hair. “Whaa?”

The scroll’s screen flashed as a ‘Transaction Accepted’ appeared. 

“There, you can pick it up by the door, right?”

“You can’t just buy that! Y-you don’t even have a gun!” Ruby cried out.

Akelarre blinked. “But it’s not for me. It’s for you.”

“No!”

“You don’t want it?”

“No.”

“I can give it back, I’m sure they’ll refund me.” Akelarre made to pull out her scroll again.

Ruby placed both hands over Akelarre’s scroll, the action entirely reflexive. “... No?”

Akelarre wrapped Ruby in a quick, tight hug, pressing the young girl’s very red face against the nook of her neck. When she pulled back it was with a huge smile, the same sort Yang wore when Ruby did something she thought was cute. “It’s okay Ruby, you’re a friend and I don’t really need the money. It’s a gift, no strings attached.”

“Thanks,” Ruby finally said with her shoulders hunched and her fingers pressed into each other before her chest.

Akelarre’s grin was infectious. “No problem! So, do you want to go see if we can play with it right away?”

Ruby was by the front check-out counter in the time it would take the average person to blink twice. Akelarre arrived a few moments later, stifling a giggle behind the long sleeves of her shirt. 

The man who was at the door earlier was all smiles as he checked Akelarre’s scroll then procured two boxes for them. One was rather plain and had a picture of Akelarre’s mechashift knife-baton, the other was a flat black case with stainless clasps and the word ‘C41’ embossed into its hard plastic sides. Ruby took it with the reverence she would use for lifting up a newborn puppy.

“Where to next?” Akelarre asked as she started towards the front.

Ruby hugged her case to her chest, cheek rubbing against its top. “Anywhere you want to go!” She beamed up at the taller girl. “Thank you so much. My baby is going to look fantastic with this.”

“No problem,” Akelarre said before patting Ruby on the head. She pouted, but at that moment Akelarre could have mentioned that she lived off a diet of kittens and Ruby would have been nice to her anyway. 

Not that she had been bought. No one bought Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose! She was unbuyable, no matter how totally awesome the gifts were.

“Oh hey, the bakery three doors down just pulled some cookies from their oven.” Ruby stared at Akelarre for a moment. How has she known? Was it a semblance? Were all Grimm able to feel the goodness that was fresh cookies from afar? Or did Akelarre have a really good nose?

She shrugged. Akelarre had been nothing but super nice so far. Grimm didn’t buy people presents or bait people with freshly baked cookies. And if they started to do that, then she would be in a world of trouble.

The sun was just past its zenith when they stepped outside. Akelarre pulled her hood down lower and Ruby squinted.

There was a man blocking their path. Tall, with scruffy hair and a scruffy unshaven face with gaunt eyes. He had a sword in one hand and a flask in the other. “Stop right there,” he growled.

Akelarre paused and Ruby did the same right next to her. 

Uncle Qrow pointed his sword in Akelarre’s direction. “You’re coming with me,” he said.

“Um,” Akelarre began. “No?”

Uncle Qrow spat on the ground, then looked towards Ruby. “Plan’s done for, back away from the Grimm.”

Akelarre’s hand shot out and touched Ruby on the shoulder before she stepped between her and Uncle Qrow. “Ruby, how about you go to that bakery? I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“I, uh, that doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Ruby said. Mostly because she was pretty sure Uncle Qrow was about to do something stupid. Again.

“Ruby, she’s not your friend, she’s just trying to use you.”

Akelarre’s shoulders tensed and she reached into her cloak to slowly pull out her scroll.

Qrow scoffed. “Are you going to call some reinforcements, girl?”

Akelarre shook her head. “I’m calling the police.”

There was a beat of silence and both Qrow and Ruby said “what” at the same time. 

“A man who--” Akelarre sniffed-- “smells like alcohol is threatening two girls with a weapon in the middle of a packed street. It seems pretty clear cut to me.”

Ruby and Qrow both looked around and Ruby felt the blood draining from her face. There were... a lot of people watching. 

“But I’m not threatening Ruby!” Qrow said while pointing his sword at her.

A few people in the crowd backed off, but others looked ready to jump in. “You’re saying that you’re only threatening me?” Akelarre asked.

“Exactly!” Qrow said.

Someone gasped. The crowd moved a little and a pair of men in blue uniforms with VPD badges on moved out from behind some gawkers and started beelining towards Uncle Qrow. They both had their hands on their handguns. “Okay sir, that’s enough out of you,” one of them said. “Lower the sword sir, there’s no need to make this complicated.”

“What? Don’t arrest me! Arrest her, she’s a Grimm!”

Akalarre snorted. “Is it because my eyes are red? I’ll have you know that they’re like that naturally.”

One of the cops eyed them, but he quickly turned back to Uncle Qrow. “Right, I think you’ve hit the bottle a bit too hard, friend. Come on, there’s no need to make this complicated.”

As the two officers moved towards a protesting Uncle Qrow, Akalarre grabbed Ruby’s hand and started pulling her away. In moments they were between a dozen people, their view of Uncle Qrow completely covered. “Did you know that man?” Akelarre asked.

“Nope,” Ruby said.

***

Yang took a step to the left.

The blond girl with the parasol took a step to her right.

Yang took two steps to her right. 

The girl with the parasol took two steps to her left. Her pretty little gothic dress swishing with a sound that almost made her think of soft laughter.

Yang’s fists closed and a growl escaped her.

The girl with the parasol gave her a winning smile.

Yang took a step to the left...

***

Writing from Ruby’s POV is a little strange. She doesn't have the attention to detail that Taylor does and tends to... flit around a lot, for lack of a better word. Anywho, bit of fluff before the plot picks up. I know some were complaining that there was too much fluff (cough, heretics, cough) but once the story picks up the pace there might not be too much opportunity for it.

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway. 

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Eighteen

The Bullhead rumbled as it met a bit of turbulence and Cinder had to firm her grip on the yoke to keep the vessel steady. Usually piloting would have been a plebeian task and something unworthy of a person like herself, but Salem had once insisted that she learn and she couldn’t fault her mistress’s logic on the matter.

Then she had discovered a certain love of the freedom and openness of the sky, one that had stuck to her even if she was loath to admit it to others. So, on occasion, she indulged herself by piloting a Bullhead to and from the Grimmlands or, as was the case that morning, flying towards an important destination.

Her meeting with the White Fang was going to be a tricky bit of business, but a simple one. She had something they wanted, they had something she wanted. Tit for tat. The most basic first-level manipulation.

Of course she was going to betray them later--loose ends could not be tolerated--but for now they would serve.

She also had her ace. Or perhaps joker would be the right card in this metaphor. She was a wild card, just as likely to bite her as be played straight and entirely unpredictable besides. But so far Akelarre had been on Salem’s side and seemed perfectly willing to tolerate Cinder.

She shuddered as she remembered Akelarre hugging her.

And then there was Akelarre’s little ‘date’ the day before. She could call it what she wanted, but Cinder had access to Akelarre’s accounts and saw the amount of lien she had lavished on her little friend. The little gold digger was probably using Akelarre’s innocence against her, but that was none of Cinder’s business. As long as Akelarre didn’t ask anything of the sort from her, she could sleep with as many small huntresses and criminals as she wanted to.

Of course, that didn’t exclude her responsibility to report all of that to Salem.

She shivered again.

“Are you okay? Is it cold?”

The Bullhead wobbled a little and this time she couldn’t blame it on turbulence. “I'm fine,” she told her guest. “This Bullhead isn’t as warm as I would like,” she said.

“Do you need me to hug you warmer?” Akelarre asked with obvious amusement.

Emerald’s squawk from the back of the vessel went entirely ignored.

“Please refrain from hugging me. Especially now. We’re going to meet the sort of people who wouldn’t look kindly upon shows of affection.”

Akelarre moved into the cabin and fell into the passenger seat. “Villains, you mean.”

“Some would call them that.”

“And what do they call themselves?” Akelarre asked. It was a surprisingly perceptive question.

“They call themselves freedom fighters, or defenders of their kind, or liberators.” Cinder sneered. “They’re misguided and foolish, but certain types are nonetheless attracted to their cause.”

“I think I know the sort,” Akelarre said. “And they’re all.... faunus, right?”

Cinder nodded. “Indeed.”

“So will they work with us? That kind of person usually shies away from working with the enemy unless there’s something big on the line.”

Cinder glanced at Akelarre for a moment then refocused on the world beyond the Bullhead. A forest filled with pink-hued trees was zipping by below. “We have some things to offer them, but there is always the option of using force to... persuade them. They would respect that. And then there’s you.”

“I don’t know. Keeping my identity hidden might be better,” she said.

“Too many people already know. Frankly, it’s a matter of time before the rumours spread out of control.”

“But rumours die down. And I think that in the grand scheme of things, time might actually be on my side. For once.”

Cinder did not sigh. It would do too much to give away her frustration. "Fine, then call it a favour. I need the White Fang, if only to use them as cannon fodder for Vale's police force and as a distraction for our targets. In fact, having them gallivanting around the city would serve you just as much as it would serve me."

Akelarre perked up and her happy-go-lucky attitude continued to mask that core of cunning that seemed to be surfacing more often. It was genuinely terrifying. “I’ll hide my swarm so that they don’t have to work hard to come out and then spook them,” Akelarre said.

She had to refocus because they were running out of forest below. A single red flare shot into the air and she wheeled the Bullhead around towards a clearing more than large enough to land her craft. People in white and black uniforms moved out of the way as she pulled a lever back to swivel her Bullhead’s engines around, then deployed the landing gear and spun up the Gravity Dust engine.

Grass and loose leaves took to the air as they coasted towards the ground, blasting away from the engine wash until the pneumatic hiss of the landing gear touching the ground filled the cabin and the Bullhead came to a rest.

The engines whirled to a stop and started ticking as they bled off heat.

“Masks on,” Akelarre said as she pulled up her hood and allowed its folds to cast a deep shadow over her face.

Cinder nodded as she unbuckled herself and joined her subordinates in the back of the Bullhead. Emerald and Mercury were already waiting by the door for her, ready to flank whoever led them out.

She tapped the door release and waited as a ramp lowered itself enough that she could start moving out, emerald to her right, Mercury to her left, and Akelarre wherever she wanted to be.

A broadshoudlered man in the typical White Fang regalia waited at the base of the landing ramp, mask tilted back to watch them descend. “You’re Cinder Fall?” he asked.

“I am,” she said. “Where is Mister Taurus?”

“This way, human,” he said, the word almost a jeer.

She noticed Akelarre giving him an odd look but the Princess didn’t say anything, she just followed after them into the woods.

Tents were pitched here and there, with small half-buried campfires left dead next to camping gear and racks of equipment made of branches and twine. It was the farthest thing from a permanent camp she had ever seen, the kind of thing that they could strike up overnight and depart just as quickly.

They garnered plenty of hostile looks as they crossed the camp and walked over to a large tent hidden in another copse of trees. A tall man in a black coat with what looked like red filigree on one side was waiting for them, his hair swept back and a slitted-mask on his face.

“So many people with masks,” Akelarre said. “It’s making me nostalgic.”

The man who could only be Adam Torus, stepped up, one hand on the hilt of his sword. “You’re Cinder?” he asked.

“I am,” she said.

“Hrm. Come.” Turning, he lead the way into the tent through one of the side walls that had been rolled up. A few chairs and a desk waited within, along with a map of Vale that had been pinned to the far wall.

He spun around and stared at Cinder, then at her companions. “You could have gone to anyone for help. You could have made a deal with a... gang leader, paid off some huntsmen that strayed from their righteous path. But instead you choose to seek an audience with me,” Adam said as he paced.

She smiled. “You’re the one we need. Your skill, your ability to lead those beneath you. You’re an exceptionally valuable man, Adam, and we have put a lot of thought into--”

“Then you’re clearly not thinking.” He waved away what she had been saying, then pointed towards her face. “The White Fang is not an organization for hire! We're a force of revolution!”

Cinder narrowed her eyes for a moment. She needed these animals to further her goals. There were other ways to get them to work for her, but the faster they moved the faster she could start getting results. “I won’t deny you your revolution,” she said, each word careful and measured. “We are working on a revolution of our own. We both have things that the other can use.”

“Tch,” he spat. “The only thing you want are my men. You want them to die for a cause that isn’t--”

Adam stopped when a giggle interrupted him. His head turned towards Akelarre who brought up a hand, her normal hand, to cover her mouth. “Sorry, didn’t mean to cut you off,” she said. “Do go on.”

He made a low sound in the back of his throat, a sort of growl. “You think this is funny, human?”

Akelarre tilted her head to one side like a puppy that didn’t understand. “A little? But like I said, I’m sorry. This is Cinder’s show, I shouldn’t interrupt. Not unless she wants me to?”

The last question was directed to her. Cinder gave it a moment’s thought. Her flattery had fallen short and Adam didn’t seem all that interested in dealing in good faith. He was reputed to be strong, stronger maybe than herself. And sometimes the only thing the strong respected were those on their level.

Wild cards were meant to be played. “Of course, ma’am, interrupt away. I wouldn’t want your questions to go unanswered.”

Akelarre grinned at her before turning her innocent smile towards Adam. “Is that a Grimm mask?” she asked the man.

He seemed taken aback for a moment, then touched the mask in question. “What does it matter to you, human?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m not, actually. And I’m just curious about the mask. I can understand hiding your identity, but just about every person in this camp is wearing a white mask with Grimm markings in it. Or, well, meaningless red scribbles, but it’s close enough.”

“Meaningless?” he hissed. “Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we wear the faces of monsters.” He stepped right up to Akelarre and looked down at her. “You’re the ones who called us beasts.”

“Okay, so a few corrections then,” Akelarre said with a chirpy tone that sounded just a little false to Cinder. Then she heard a muffled scream from far away outside the tent. Adam didn’t seem to notice, but one of his guards perked up, the dog ears above his head twisting towards the sound. “First of all,” Akelarre began. “The red markings come with the age and power of the Grimm. They’re kind of like a mix of tree rings and those spots on the backs of poisonous animals. They actually follow a set pattern if you pay attention. Yours for example say that you’re young and poisonous.”

“What?” Adam asked.

“And second, I never called anyone on Remnant a beast. That would be rude. And why would I be rude to someone wearing such a flattering piece of... facewear? Or is it part of your identity? Your... Grimmsona?”

Adam opened his mouth, then closed it shut with a click. He took a step back and lowered his sword and scabbard so that they were held before him. “Are you mocking me?”

“No?” Akelarre asked. “I’m just curious. Before this morning I had never heard of your little White Fang gang, so I have a lot to be filled in on.”

“The White Fang is not a gang, human,” Adam said.

Akelarre’s lips turned down in a frown. “There you go, calling me human again. That’s a big assumption to make, isn’t it?”

“If you’re one of us, then why would you side with her?” he asked, but some of his hostility had bled off when Akelarre admitted to not being entirely human.

“Oh, I’m not a faunus either,” Akelarre said. “Though I would like to think I understand, at least in part, what your kind is suffering. I don’t think you’re handling it as well as you might though. Trying to win the hearts of the people with crime is... possible, but you need to do it in an entirely different way. And I think I could help you with that.”

Adam stepped up to Akelarre, towering over her as if he could intimidate her. “And how would you do that?”

“The people of Remnant already have a common enemy, Mister Taurus, You just need to show them that sticking together, not matter the race is more important that squabbling until we get tired and decide to take over.”

“We?”

“Oh, right, I didn’t introduce myself,” she said before reaching up and pulling off her hood one-handed. “I am Akelarre, Princess of the Grimm.”

Then things started escalating.

***

Friendly head’s up: When this story hits 50K it will be going on a one-week hiatus.

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway.

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Nineteen

Blake was being subtle. She would lean forwards and poke at the campfire as she had done a thousand times before, then, when no one was looking, she would move one of her books under the flames.

Seeing the pages curdle up and burn, the ink fizzling in blue and green flames and the contents that had left her hot and bothered lighting up in not so metaphorical fire was both distressing and, somehow, a balm.

There was no going back from this.

Tomorrow she and Adam would be hitting an SDC convoy heading to Vale. The first part of the plan had them alone aboard the train, which would be her chance. Stowing away wasn’t going to be difficult after that.

She wasn’t going to be able to bring much with her. Gambol Shroud, the clothes on her back, the knowledge in her head. That was the whole of it.

And then the White Fang, or Adam, at least, would know that she had betrayed them.

She kept telling herself that it was for the best.

Still, he would probably look through all the things she left behind. The thought of him finding her... literature was mortifying enough as it was. Better to burn out that part of her past too. At least Vale had bookstores. There was probably more than one person with similar... tastes. Maybe there was a bookseller that specialized in Mistralian imports?

She shoved the last of her books in deeper with a shove and started to climb to her feet when she heard a rustle behind her. “Blake?” Ilia’s familiar voice asked.

Blake turned to her friend, one of the few people she was going to miss and gave her a tired smile. “Hey,” she replied.

“A little early for a fire,” Ilia said.

Blake shrugged one shoulder and tossed her sticks onto the flames, sending a cascade of embers into the sky. “I was a little chilly.”

“I can think of one way to warm you up,” Ilia said.

“Huh?”

“Nevermind.” Ilia’s skin took on a pink tint. “Adam’s meeting had been going on for a while, do you think we should go meet them?”

“I don’t know, if it was any of our busine--” Blake cut herself off and spun around, ears twitching as she picked up a distant sound, like someone screaming only for the yell to be cut off. “Did you hear that?” she asked.

“No?” Ilia said, but she was pulling her whip out as she said it and Blake found herself reaching for Gambol Shroud herself.

Moving through the forest might have been hard, once, but years spent camping out in the woods had turned her hard, had given her the skills and experience she needed to flit from shadow to shadow with nary a sound. She wasn’t scared yet. The sound could have been a prank or someone clumsy tripping over a root, but she had to check.

For today, at least, she was still part of the White Fang.

Then there was another muffled scream, and another. She whipped around, Gambol Shroud out and ready to fire. A few bugs flew past her and leaves rustled above, but she didn’t see anyone.

Not a single person.

“Ilia?” she asked.

The girl didn’t materialize from the shadows or move out from behind cover. Blake started to worry that whatever was happening wasn’t just one idiot tripping.

Something rammed into her from the side, a heavy but soft form that had her crashing to the ground even as she tried to flip and bring up Gambol Shroud. She pulled the trigger but her gun didn’t even click. A glance down revealed a pile of bugs scuttling into the mechanisms of the gun.

She was about to throw it at her aggressor. Bugs or no a heavy blade would hurt, when what felt like a dozen strong arms grabbed her from behind.

Blake tried to scream, but something covered her mouth and it came out muffled.

When she took in a breath to try again something flew into her mouth, setting off a coughing fit that would have had her bending double if it wasn’t for the thing manhandling her.

She thought it was an assault, Atlas catching up, the SDC sending out a kill squad, some mercenary huntsman. Then she saw the Grimm moving out of the trees with slow, calculating motions.

She was about to scream again, choking be damned, then she felt a prick and the world went dark.

***

The man, Adam, had both hands on his sword. One wrapped around the sheath, the other around the handle itself.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he would do. She knew his sort, even if she couldn’t pin-point the how and when. She was a threat and his response to such was violence.

But he was also a leader, a man who seemed to care for his subordinates, at least according to what he had said. She had more evidence then just that. Her Grimmsects had found his cot soon after they landed, and his tent was no bigger or better than anyone else's. The half-eaten meal abandoned when they landed was the same slop the others were eating and other than his clothes his equipment looked the be of the same quality.

Did that mean that he couldn’t afford luxuries, or did it mean that he didn’t want to place himself above his subordinates.

Akelarre was beginning to regret not questioning Cinder some more. But she knew enough.

“I won’t hurt you,” she said.

“Bullshit,” he sneered.

She blinked then shared a look with Cinder. Surprisingly Mercury was the only one that reacted to the swear and he did so by biting his lower lip. “Was that,” she began. “Was that a pun on your own... what’s the proper term for animal traits?”

Adam seemed taken aback, perhaps by her nonchalance or maybe by the topic itself. “Are you kidding?”

“I’ve met exactly one faunus so far, two if we count you,” Akelarre said with a shrug of one shoulder. The tangent was useful, it was giving her time. Or rather, it was giving her Grimmsects time to move. The last few stragglers were being rounded up and her spider Grimm were hard at work already. Now she just had to move them all. “I’m sorry if I offend you by accident. I haven’t spent that much time with the other races that occupy Remnant.”

“Other races... you really are a Grimm,” he said. His thumb moved to the edge of his blade and it started to slide out of its scabbard.

Three things happened at once:

-Akelarre’s arm, the one gifted to her by Salem, shot out from under her cloak.  
-Adam started to pull his sword out of its sheath.  
-The Grimm she had tucked around the edges of the tent bit through the cords holding the walls in place and a few Lancers took to the skies with the ropes held in their pincers.

As the tent flew away with a violent flap Adam, his one remaining guard, Cinder, Emerald, Mercury and Akelarre all found themselves out in the open, only the metal rods of the tent keeping them away from the elements. The elements and the swarm gathered around three sides of the clearing.

Akelarre’s hand wrapped itself around Adam’s, holding his arm in place and locking his sword in its sheath. “Please reconsider,” she said.

Adam took just a moment to look to his right and left. Akalarre imagined that she could hear the gears turning in his mind.

“Shit,” the big faunus that had stayed with Adam said as if to sum up their situation.

Akearre could feel the faster beat of every heart in the tent. Cinder had brought out her twin swords in a flash while her subordinates looked ready to fight, though if that was against the White Fang or her Grimmsects they didn’t seem to know.

There were bodies, some of them squirming, others laying perfectly still, and all of them wrapped in gauzy layers of pitch black silk. Spider Grimm the size of full grown men were guarding the White Fang while other assorted insects slid in and out of the shadows cast by the forest, the motions masking their types and numbers. Not that it wasn’t easy to tell that there were a lot of Grimm around them.

Adam’s breathing was coming in a little faster and she could feel his hands tightening around the hilt of his sword. “They’re unharmed,” she said.

“And I should believe you?” he asked.

“You should. There’s nothing to gain from putting on a production like this one if I was just going to betray and kill you.”

“You assume that I would be easy to kill,” he growled.

Akelarre blinked. “I assume no such thing,” she said. “Not all of my Grimmsects are big,” she added while bringing her free hand up to reveal a cockroach no bigger than the palm of her hand. It waved its cute little antenna at Adam then danced a little dance to show off just how much of a cutie patootie it was. “See, the little ones are good at sneaking. And because I figured you would be a threat, I snuck some onto you. I would say that I hope you’re not offended, but most people are not as casual about being covered in flesh-eating bugs as I am.”

She had all her little friends that had crawled onto Adam wiggle a bit. A lot of them were centred around his crotch. That was usually a good way to calm people down, from what she remembered, or at least make them reconsider fighting.

Adam swallowed.

“Now, could you stop it with the sword? If I wanted to hurt you I would be hurting you. But we don’t need to be enemies, Mister Taurus. Cinder’s offer was in good faith. I think you should listen to it with the attention it deserves.”

“I... can do that much,” he said, his grip on his sword loosening just before she drew her arm back. “Can you assure me that my men are unharmed?”

“Your concern does you credit,” she said with a smile. “And I can. As long as I am here telling my Grimmsects to behave there shouldn’t be any issues. Worse case scenario I die and you’ll have a few million angry insects to deal with in the few seconds it takes me to reform my body and come back to life.”

She smiled at him.

Adam swallowed.

“Can I see Blake?” he asked. “To ensure that she’s well.”

“Which one is Blake?” Akelarre asked as she took in the sea of wrapped White Fang. Some of them were both awake and had their faces uncovered just enough to see what was going on. They looked a little spooked.

“She’s a cat faunus. Black hair. Cat ears.”

Akelarre nodded twice. “Oh her. She was very skilled. It took two of my Grimmsects working together to take her out.” Some of her Grimmsects were already working to bring the girl around towards their tent. It only took a moment before a particularly large spider Grimm deposited the girl near Adam and started undoing the webbing holding her in place.

Adam moved to her side, wary of the Grimm spider but braving it all the same to poke and prod Blake until the girl started to stir awake. “Is that good enough?” she asked.

“It is,” Adam said as he moved away from the girl. His masked face looked first at Akelarre, then towards Cinder. “Alright. Tell me about this deal of yours,” he said.

***

Blake woke up with a pounding headache. “What?” she asked as she blinked her eyes and took in the forest around her.

Adam was sitting next to her, his sword tucked in the crook of his neck and one knee bent. “You’re awake?” he asked.

“Yeah, I...” Her eyes widened and any vestiges of sleep were burned away by a surge of adrenaline. “Grimm!” she said.

“They’re gone,” Adam said, his voice low and--to her surprise--thoughtful. “The Grimm left with their master.”

“Master?” she repeated.

Rather than answer the question, Adam looked at her for a long moment. “Blake, tomorrow, when we hit that Schnee train. I think it might be best that you stay aboard. Think of it as a... as an infiltration mission into Vale. Things are getting complicated here. I, I want you to be safe.” Blake blinked her eyes in a way that some might have called cat-like, but before she could form a proper reply Adam stood. “We can talk more tomorrow. I need some sleep,” he said.

She lay back and tried to make sense of the world.

“Did I burn my smut for nothing?”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (see note below), but I like you anyway.

NOTE: I would like to point out for everyone’s edification that eschwartz is a completely rational and sane person and is in no way crazy, mad, insane, borked, or otherwise on the same level as the other members of the Raven’s Nest Discord. We all hope to be as enlightened and stable as him when we finally grow up.


	21. Chapter 21

Bonus Chapter!

Akelarre straightened her outfit before sitting down on the sofa. She waited, taking a deep breath to calm herself before opening her eyes and focusing on the Seer.

The Grimm wobbled in the air before her, uncaring that she was focused on it or that there were bugs crawling along its surface. “Connect me to Salem,” she said.

The Seer wobbled again, a faint sound escaping it for a moment. Then the orb at its top moved and the darkness within swirled. Soon she was facing a curious Salem, her image distorted on the edges but still clearly visible. “Akelarre,” Salem said with a hint of surprise. “I didn’t expect you to contact me so soon.”

Akelarre smiled. “Didn’t expect to need to so soon either.”

“Is something wrong?” Salem asked immediately.

Perhaps she was just curious, perhaps she was genuinely concerned. Either way it warmed her heart a little and gave Akelarre the push to go on. “Maybe. I’m fine, physically. So is Cinder and her friends. The house is secure as far as my Grimmsects can see, which is quite a ways. And my own friends are alright, last I talked to them.”

“So the problem lies elsewhere,” Salem said. She was on her throne, the imposing seat becoming more evident as she leaned back into it. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Is it that obvious?” Akelarre asked.

“To me it is,” Salem said.

Akelarre sighed, but her smile didn’t leave -- it only grew sadder. “Vale has been nice. So has helping Cinder. I... my memories are coming back, I think. Not quickly, not all at once, but in these little flashes of nostalgia. The docks in Vale felt like home, and talking with Roman and Neo brought back so many little things.”

“That’s wonderful,” Salem said, and she spared Akelarre a small but genuine smile. Or she did until she noticed Akelarre’s lack of response. “Or is it not so?”

“I... don’t know?” Akelarre admitted. “Some of those memories are nice. And, and I’m changing, aren’t I? I’m not as dumb as I was a few months ago.”

“I would hardly call you that,” Salem chided.

Akelarre nodded, conceding the point. “Okay, perhaps not dumb, but certainly not at my best. And that’s the problem, I think. At my best... Taylor. I was, am Taylor, and at her best Taylor was a terror, a monster. I don’t want to become that again.”

“Then don’t,” Salem said. “Do you think I have always been Salem, Queen of the Grimm?”

“What?”

Salem shook her head. “Sometimes, every few centuries when I have secured a few of the relics in the game of cups that Ozma and I play, I tire of my role as the villainess. So I stop. I have spent decades in contemplation, I have owned businesses and towns, I farmed once, though my crops never grew well. I even, on some occasions, lived amongst humanity. The faunus interested me at first, so I spent time in their communities, and I watched as every one of the major cities of this day grew from a village to the bastions they are today. During those times I was not Salem. Ozma is certainly no better. He changes himself more than some people change hats.”

“I, I don’t get it,” Akelarre said.

“Do you want to be Taylor, or do you want to be Akelarre?” Salem asked.

“I... I have good memories as Taylor. Nothing else, but some good memories. But for every good memory I have a dozen regrets, and those are the things that surface the most.”

Salem sighed, a weary, dreadful sound that told of disappointment, and shared pain. “Akelarre, Taylor, you don’t have to carry those same regrets. By the foul grace of the gods you have been born again. If there was ever a reason to abandon such things, that is certainly it. If you don’t want to be Taylor anymore, then become Akelarre in full. If you don’t want to be her anymore, then carve out a new name and path for yourself.”

“I.” Akelarre paused. She turned to look away from the Seer and wiped her eyes with a quick swipe of her thumb. “I kind of like being Akelarre,” she said in a whisper.

“And I like you being who you are, the young woman that fell into my lap and did her best to turn my world upside down. If... if you were to become someone else I would understand, I would support you even. No matter who you become, I will be here. That much I can promise.”

Akelarre felt a smile tugging at her lips, and as she let go of her restraint it turned into a grin. “Thanks.”

“You are very welcome,” Salem said.

“S-Salem,” Akelarre said after a moment’s pause. “Can I call you mom?”

Salem swallowed and her eyes widened for a moment, a flash of panic and pain then some emotion that Akelarre couldn’t pin crossed her features before the woman deflated. She stared at her through the distance. “I think I would like that, daughter.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (‘cept for Eschwartz), but I like you anyway.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty

The rat-at-tat of a machine gun had her rolling behind a goon who did the gentlemanly thing and took a few rounds for her before she folded him like one of those chairs they had at the school plays her mom never attended.

There was just something so primal about beating the stuffing out of two-bit goons.

She ducked under a swing from a baseball bat, stepped aside as some other twit tried the knock her back, then took one step forwards that placed her entire weight into a right straight that ended somewhere six inches behind a goon’s nose.

The crack as his head bounced off the dance floor sent a shiver down her spine. She had to resist the urge to lick her lips.

She heard a scuff behind her and spun in time to avoid the swing of a goon’s sword that nearly, nearly nicked her hair.

“Head in the game, Yang,” she muttered to herself before using the momentum of her dodge and a shot from Ember Celica to spin around in mid-air and deliver an elbow to sword-dude’s chin that had him flat on his back a moment later.

She fired at the ground between a pair of goons to make them lose their footing, used the recoil to fly backwards and spun in the air to kick the back of another goon’s head with enough force to send him crashing into one of his buddies.

Jumping up, she caught some lucky boy between her thighs and made his two seconds of heaven end with a bang as she slugged him right between his very wide eyes

As soon as she was back on her feet, she sprinted towards the DJ booth, Ember Celica exploding out behind her with a twin ‘crack’ that sounded like what Ruby would call explosive poetry. She landed a knee in the DJ’s face, rolled, grabbed the huge bear mask and slammed him down onto the recording equipment with a blow so hard it made the digital track skip.

She flung the DJ onto the dance floor where he landed with a thud, rolled, then groaned. He was probably going to call in sick with a nasty case of disco fever tomorrow.

“Melanie, who is that?” the most grating voice she had ever heard said. She winced as it brought up memories of catty bitches who didn’t get enough stitches. Maybe if she had a proper female role model in life she would fix her problems with words and bad innuendo instead of shotgun punches and puns and also bad innuendo.

“I don’t know, Militia, but we should teach her a lesson,” another equally horrid voice said. She looked over the music console and found two girls dressed like they had robbed a Goodwill bin the morning after a costume party.

She jumped over, fully intending to hit them until they shut up, when a low, thrumming voice sounded out across the room. “You will stop.”

There was no give, no doubt that whoever had given the order expected it to be obeyed in full. And if the way the twin bimbo’s eyes widened was any indication they had the same impression Yang just did.

One of the broken gantry lights gave off a final squeal before it crashed to the ground with a thud not two feet from a woman standing tall and proud in a white cloak. She didn’t even flinch.

“A pair of twins and a girl in a bad ghost costume walk into a bar,” Yang said as she took a moment to reload Ember Celica. “Sounds like the start of a bad joke.” Her shotguns cracked shut. “Let me get to the punch line.”

“I recognize you,” the white one with the creepy voice said. “Is your name Yang?”

Yang paused, arms still up in a guard position and legs still tensed to jump over and let loose a few quick jabs. “Uh, yeah, that’s me?” she said. Did whitey know about Raven? And if so, was that why she was somehow familiar.

“Girls, go get Junior, make sure he’s okay,” the girl in the cloak said. “And help these men up, some look genuinely injured.”

“You’re not our boss,” the girl in red said. The white hood turned her way and all the blood drained from red’s face. “I mean, yes ma’am, right away ma’am!”

Yang lowered her arms as the twins scampered off like their asses were on fire. “So, you know Raven?” Yang asked.

“Who?”

Yang growled and brought her fists back up. “Do I have to beat it out of you?” she asked.

“Could you wait a few minutes before doing that?” Hood asked.

“Wait for what?” Yang asked.

“The police. I’m sure someone has called them by now.”

“Ah,” Yang said. She looked around The Club, eyes going from torn apart pillars to the dance floor that was covered in craters and bloodstains. The music chose that moment to kick back on with a remix of the Achieve Men song ‘Bad Girls.’ She bit her lower lip. “Oops?”

The girl in the hood sighed, a hand coming up and disappearing within her hood. “Okay, follow me,” she said. “You can hide upstairs. It’s where all the cool criminals are.”

“What?” Yang said, but she found herself following after the girl anyway. “So, how did you know my name?”

“Ruby told me,” the girl said as they reached the far end of the club where a corridor with a stairwell waited. It was also where half the guys she had beaten to a pulp were gathered, some of them limping, others staring off to the ceiling in a daze. One of them was hunched over crying over a broken pair of sunglasses.

Something clicked in Yang’s mind and she finally made the connection. “Wait, you’re that...” she paused for a moment and reined in her voice. “You’re the Grimm girl?”

“Akelarre, my name’s Akelarre,” she said.

“Ah, yeah, Ruby won’t shu-- stop talking about you,” Yang said. Now she was growing suspicious. While Ruby had nothing but good things to say about Akelarre, her dad and Uncle Qrow sure as hell didn’t agree. More Uncle Qrow, actually.

“Really? She hardly mentioned you at all.”

Yang almost tripped on a step, both hands clamped over her chest. “What? My little baby sister didn’t mention me? Does she not think I’m the coolest anymore?”

Akelarre paused then gently patted Yang on the shoulder. “It’s okay? I’m sure Ruby still loves you. She is a very nice person.”

Yang straightened a little, her smile facing away as she took in the girl that stood one step above her. “Yeah, she is. Look, I didn’t come here to talk about Ruby, but since you’re here, you know that I’m going to have to give you the third degree, right?”

“The what?” Akelarre asked.

“You’ve started dating my baby sister. It’s my obligation as best big sis ever to tell you that if you hurt her feelings, I will literally burn you.”

Akelarre tilted her head to one side in the same way Zwei did when she told the pup something confusing. “I’m... dating your sister?”

“You didn’t know,” Yang said, her voice flatter than Akelarre’s chest. It worked to embarrass the girl because a red tint started to spread across what she could see of Akelarre’s cheeks.

“Well, she was pretty clear that our last day out together wasn’t a date. She said so. Repeatedly.”

Yang pressed a hand to her face and tried to hold back a sigh. “That sounds so much like Ruby. Let me guess. She then told you that there would be absolutely no hand holding the entire time?”

“Uh, no? We held hands. I didn’t want to let go of her in case she got lost. Ruby moves very fast.”

“Ruby moves... fast,” Yang repeated faintly. “Oh my god, my little sis is becoming a woman.”

“I think you might be reading into this a bit too much. Ruby and I are just friends.” Akelarre shook her head as she turned back towards the stairs and continued climbing. “Come on, we can sit down and have a chat about your actions.”

“You sounds like my dad,” she accused.

“And I might just call him if I feel like your reasons to trash Junior’s bar aren’t good enough.”

Yang paused mid-step. “Wait, you’ll call my dad?”

“Obviously?” Akelarre said as she reached the top and Yang sped up to catch up.

“Aren’t you a Grimm? Like, you eat people. Why would you care?”

“Because Junior has been nothing but cordial and nice so far and The Club is neutral grounds. That means no fighting here,” Akelarre explained. “Also, I don’t eat people.” She paused before a door, knocked twice and slid inside.

Curious and just a little apprehensive, Yang followed her into the room and tried to take it all in. There was a fancy couch off to one side before a wide screen television, a little bar sat in one corner and there was a card table off in another corner were the players could see the dance floor through a floor to ceiling window that overlooked the dance floor. There were two people in the room, one a little girl in a white, pink and brown outfit who was laying back on the card table, legs kicking out in time with each other and a man in a snazzy outfit who was lounging on the sofa.

“Ah, my favourite terror! And you brought the blond. Fantastic. I really needed more chaos in my life,” the man said.

She blinked at him as recognition flashed through her mind. “You’re Roman Torchwick!” she accused.

Roman bowed from his seat. “Pleasure to meet you, blondie. Always nice to meet a fan.”

“You’re a criminal!” Yang said.

“And you just signed up for... about ten assualt and battery charges, as well as destruction of private property. Maybe sexual assault if the look on Junior’s face when your grabbed him by the jewels meant anything. I, on the other hand, am a gentleman thief. I just redistribute wealth. Mostly from the pockets of the wealthy to my own pockets. No one gets hurt. No one gets their balls crushed.”

Yang made a noise that might have been a choked off protest. She wasn’t really sure of what was going on anymore.

Akelarre grabbed one of the seats by the table, waved at the little girl, and turned it around to straddle it backwards as she faced Yang. “So, why did you do that to Junior anyway?” she asked.

“Wait, before we get into that, why are you hanging around with him?” she asked while pointing at Roman.

“Well screw you too, blondie,” Roman shot back.

“Because Roman knows a lot about the criminal underworld and I plan on taking it over.”

“What, just like that?”

“Well, no. I could just take it over by force. Or, if I wanted, I could provide better education and give support to charities that help people avoid crime while doing my best to decrease the number of criminal youth in Vale. Then I’d just have to wait for the current generation to die off. Long term investments take on a whole new meaning when you’re kinda immortal.”

“You know, the more I talk to you the less certain I am about you dating my sister,” Yang said.

The girl next to Akelarre sat up with all the speed and suddenness of a mouse trap going off. Yang found herself the centre of attention of a brown and pink eye.

“I’m not dating Ruby,” Akelarre said. “We just went weapons shopping, got some creep arrested, and then went out for ice cream and cookies.”

The girl turned her gaze onto the back of Akelarre’s head, eyes narrowing while her cheeks puffed out in a pout that would have been cute if she didn’t look murderous. Then she paused, a thought seeming to occur to her, before her expression morphed into a leer.

“Uh huh,” Yang said as she dragged her eyes back to Akelarre. “So can I go now?”

“You haven’t told me why you were here yet,” Akelarre said.

Yang sighed and pulled out her scroll, flicking it open with a swipe of her thumb. She turned it around to show Akelarre a picture of her mom. “I’m looking for this woman. Her name is Raven Branwen.”

Akelarre leaned forward and looked at the picture for a while. “Never heard of her before, sorry,” she finally said. “Why are you looking for her?”

“She’s my mom,” Yang said.

Akelarre’s glowing red eyes blinked beneath her hood. “So... you walked into a random bar, asked if anyone had seen her... and then beat up the owner when he said no?”

Yang felt a little warmth climbing up her neck. “I also ordered a drink.”

Roman snorted. “And that makes it so much better.”

The girl on the table hopped off and walked around Akelarre before she hugged the Grimm girl from behind and rested her head on Akelarre’s shoulder. ‘Mine’ she mouthed the word to Yang.

And Yang decided not to touch that entire situation with a ten foot pole. “So can I go now?”

Akelarre turned a gentle smile towards Yang and she felt herself tensing up. “Of course. After you apologize to Junior.”

“What makes you think that I’ll apologize?” Yang asked.

Red eyes met hers, two deep wells, so similar to her own Semblance-empowered eyes, but darker, more cunning and on the very cusp of being feral, like the eyes of an Alpha Beowolf that just stumbled across an injured child. “If you don’t, I’ll know.”

Yang swallowed.

***

Akelarre watched Yang stomp out of the room, fists balled by her side and face set in a pout that belied her age. “That was fun,” she said.

“You think she’s actually going to do it?” Roman asked.

She tried to shrug one shoulder, but Neo was still leaning against her back. The diminutive girl must have thought Akelarre was trying to shake her off because she wrapped both arms around her chest and gave her a tight squeeze. Akelarre giggled, flushing as the sound escaped her. “Thanks Neo,” she said.

Roman, the no fun thief, rolled his eyes. “Do you two want me to leave? Because I really don’t want to watch.”

“No, you can stay,” Akelarre said. “I just came to ask you if you had all the data on those criminals I asked for.”

Roman perked up a little at that and pulled out a scroll from his inner pocket. “I do indeed, terrifying little lady. All the suspected location of just about every gang in Vale, from Dager’s Boys to the Caw Caw Criminals. Those are all members of the Knights, in case you were wondering.”

Akelarre reached out to grab the scroll Roman held out. It made Neo shift a little and by the time she was sitting straight again she felt a bit of a blush creeping up her cheeks. “Thanks Roman. And, uh, Neo, you’re accidentally grabbing my boob.”

Neo’s hand squeezed as if to confirm the fact, then she placed a hand before her mouth to hide her shock.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Just an accident.” She smiled at Neo, then her shirt started to wiggle. “You should be more careful, I’m covered in all sorts of venomous insects. I don’t know what half of their bits would do to you if you touched them in the wrong place. It would be a shame if you lost an arm to a little bite.”

Neo nodded solemnly.

Looking down at the scroll, she realized that she didn’t actually know where most of the locations on the map were. “A-actually, Neo. Do you know where these places are?”

Neo leaned forwards until her chin was in the crook of Akelarre’s neck and scanned the list for a moment. She nodded.

“Huh. Would it be too much trouble to ask you to show me around? I’ll pay for your lunch if you come.”

Neo gasped and hugged Akelarre tighter.

“I’ll take that as a yes!”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 and eschwartz for doing word things! You’re all completely insane (‘cept for Eschwartz), but I like you anyway.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Roman

Akelarre moved into the VIP room she was starting to think of as her and Neo and Roman’s hang out spot with all of the grace and poise of a gangly puppy tumbling down a staircase. Away from home, away from her mom, she was paying less and less attention to just how she presented herself.

Salem would probably be a bit disappointed in her. The Queen of the Grimm was nothing if not regal.

Maybe, she reasoned as she flicked on the lights with the leg of one Grimmsect, she should start paying more attention to that sort of thing. She was about to go on a date, after all.

She was even dressed for it in a nice black piece Cinder had helped her pick, new stockings and shoes and even a new, more lacy cloak to hide her features while out in the city. It wasn’t the kind of clothes she would have chosen to go out in normally, but it did make her feel a little prettier.

Ready as she would ever be, she stood in the doorway to the VIP room with hands on hips, tentacles around her shoulders, and chest puffed out.

Neo groaned.

Blinking, Akelarre glanced across the room until her gaze paused on the form of her new friend, hunched in on herself on the couch, both hands wrapped around her tummy while beads of sweat poured out of her hair and across her face.

“Neo?!” Akelarre shouted.

There was a sigh from off to one side and she found Roman, in his usual garb, shaking his head. “She’s fine,” he said.

Akelarre approached Neo and almost got a boot to the head when she tried to touch the girl. Scowling, she shoved Neo’s leg back down and placed a hand on Neo’s forehead. It was a little warm, but not dangerously so. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Neo looked up at her, eyes watery and full of pain. She nodded down to her arms which were crossed around her belly and wiggled a little. Had she been shot? Was Neo dying? Did someone hurt her? Was Neo one of those girls that got really bad cramps?

“She ate too much ice cream,” Roman announced.

“Ah,” Akelarre said while Neo mewled pitifully. Whatever sympathy she had dried up as she noticed the sea of empty bowls laid out around the couch. “And she did that just before our date,” she said.

“Sorry love. Guess you’re out of luck.”

Akelarre stood up to her full height, frown now firmly in place and hands on hips. This just would not do. “I paid for two ticket to enter that costume party and I’m going to get my money’s worth,” she said. Hard red eyes turned to Roman and pinned the master thief on the spot. “What are you doing tonight?”

Neo paused in her groaning, opened one eye a slit, looked between Akelarre and Roman, then started to let out pained chuckles.

“Oh no.”

Akelarre smiled.

***

Roman was... well, he wasn’t having a bad time, not yet. In fact, in most respects this was a nice situation to be in.

He was out on the streets of Vale, looking nice and snazzy, one arm being held by a pretty girl and he had a nice party to look forward to. All nice things; a perfectly good way to spend the evening.

Except the girl was the Princess of the Grimm and as far as he knew, she was one stubbed toe away from calling down death and destruction upon the remains of the human race. A race that he was currently an active member of. Oh, and the party was a political fundraising thing that he probably wouldn’t be allowed to stick up.

There were black tentacles pouring out of the back of her dress and wrapping around her neck. He would have called them props except that one of them grew an eye and stared at him with what he thought might be hunger.

“You know, I didn’t see Neo getting all costumed up for this thing,” he said.

“Oh,” Akelarre replied, her free hand, the black one, waving the comment off. “She was going to use her semblance to look like someone else.”

“Uh huh,” he said. “And what about me?”

He never got an answer to his question. They arrived at the back of a short line, a pair of butler-types blocking the path into a park that had been decorated for the occasion with hanging lanterns that cast yellow light through the foliage, and silvery cloth draped from one tree to the next, creating a roof of sorts over the paths that criss crossed the park.

Now that they were close enough, he could hear the wailing song of a violin competing with a stand up bass for attention, and the low murmur of discussion coming from people wearing elaborate and something downright weird costumes.

He saw a man dressed as a female opera singer hand in hand with a girl wearing plate armour. Deeper in, a young woman was wearing a very elaborate and rather trimmed down version of Pyrrha Nikos’ armour. She laughed at her partner, a man in a tuxedo whose belly was padded out with what looked like a pillow to make him appear fat.

“What is this event anyway?” he asked. There was a certain air of... class to it, despite the rather strange dress code.

“It’s a costume party held in honour of the hunters and huntresses of Vale. The money raised will go to Beacon and a few other schools. At least, that’s what they say. A good chunk of it is funnelled back to the city and to the Merchants.”

Roman gave her a glance, surprised that she had learned so much about the city’s underground so quickly. Then again, maybe competence came with the title of evil princess of evilness.

Akelarre grinned at the butlers and handed over a pair of tickets.

“Welcome, welcome!” A fat man in a train conductor’s outfit said, his mustache quivering with every word. “I’m Slate, Arryn Slate, councillor of this fine city and host of today’s little get together,” he said with a twinkle in his eye while gesturing at the dozens of guests milling around.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Arryn,” Akelarre said with a demure smile. “I’m Akelarre, but tonight you can call me Salem, Queen of the Grimm.”

The councillor’s eyes widen, then he let out a guffaw of laughter. “Excellent, excellent. And your handsome partner here needs no introduction, of course. He’s a spitting image of that damnable Roman Torchwick chap. Wonderful costume my lad. I do like the theme. Bad guys indeed.”

“Thank you,” Roman said as he extended a hand to shake. His smile was a little strained but the councillor didn’t seem to notice as he shook his hand.

“That was so rude,” Akelarre said as they moved towards the buffet.

“Really? Was he supposed to bow down before your royal might?” he asked.

“No, you stole his watch,” she said.

He blinked, the added weight in his pocket suddenly feeling rather warm. “You noticed?” he asked.

“I see everything, Roman,” she replied easily. “Next time, take his wallet. It might not be worth as much, but we could learn something useful from it.”

“Oh, are you telling me how to do my job?” he snarked.

She snorted and pulled a drink from the side of the buffet table, gave it a sniff, then pushed it into his hands. It was champaign. Instead, Akelarre picked up another goblet that was filled with icy water and took a long sip. “I could do better,” she said.

He almost choked on his drink. “Do better. Than me?” he asked. “You are a hundred years too young to be better than me, sweetheart,” he said.

“You do know that I’m essentially immortal. For all you know I’ve been around for far, far longer than a hundred years.” Undisguised red eyes, filled with both mirth and a feral edge, looked him up and down.

“We could put it to the test,” he said.

“Oh?”

“The one with the most in their pockets by the night’s end wins,” he said. He already had something of a head start, but no one had ever called him a fair player.

“And what would they win? Another date, a kiss?” she asked with a growing smile.

Roman rolled his eyes. His sense of self-preservation wasn’t that bad. “No, nothing like that. How about... footing Neo’s ice cream bill for the next month.”

Akelarre laughed, and it was a soft noise, muffled by a hastily raised hand. “I might be heir of the richest person on Remnant, but even my castle isn’t made of gold. I’m not sure I can afford that much ice cream. But, seeing as how I intend to win... you’re on, Mister Torchwick.”

“So when do we start?” he asked. Maybe he could stall her a little.

Then a wasp the size of his palm zipped by, dropping something that flashed golden between them and Akelarre caught with a snap of her arm. She opened her hand to reveal a pretty little earring. “Didn’t you start yet?”

***

This was, he knew, a distraction.

Sweaty palms wrapped around warm hands and then let go so that the woman in his arms could spin around, her dress billowing out around her.

He was the only one that noticed the tentacle whipping out from under the dress, sharp tip cutting through the straps of a purse before snatching it out of the air on the next spin.

“Cheater,” he said as Akelarre crashed back into his chest.

She grinned at him, face flushed with victory. “Not cheating, just using my assets in new and creative ways,” she said.

He harrumphed and missed the next step, going off beat and bumping into a man that had been behind him. He fired off a muffled apology before catching up to Akelarre’s dancing and stuffing a wallet in his jacket pocket. “See,” he said. “What was done with skill and finesse.”

“I’m sure,” she agreed without warmth. “Strange how your vaunted skill and finesse aren’t helping you win.”

“That’s because my competition is cheating,” he said.

“Cheating at a criminal competition? Oh no, who would have guessed?” she rolled her eyes. Then opened a palm in time for a broach to fall into it from above. She smiled as she slipped it into her dress front.

Roman sighed. “So why did you want to come here, really? It can’t be for the dancing.”

She pouted a little. “I was kind of hoping to spy on people, but really most of the conversations are all about mundane, boring stuff. The people of Vale are too nice to spill secrets at parties like these.”

“Maybe you’re not spying on enough people?” he tried.

She shook her head, black locks tumbling around her face. “No. I’m spying on every living person in this park. I’ve got bugs on all of them. Really, if I wanted to rob them properly I’d have my bugs bite and inject them all with paralitic then stip them naked.”

“...gods,” Roman said as he imagined the scene.

“There aren’t any gods, Mister Torchwick,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow at that. “You’re not the religious sort, I take it?”

“Oh no, there were gods before. The god of light, who created humanity, the god of darkness who ruled over death, and so on. I know, I killed one. But my mom scared the rest away. It’s just us now.”

He swallowed.

Then someone started screaming, a repetition of ‘Where’s my wallet?” that grew louder and more insistent and was soon joined by a chorus of panicked yells about missing jewelry and watches and purses.

“Time to bail,” Akelarre said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowds. The lights above flickered and died where they were passing, leaving what few guards were around floundering in the sudden darkness.

Akelarre bunched her skirt up, a single earring falling out before she jumped over the fence in a single bound. He saw a flash of white in the shadows swoop by and pick up the earring.

Following after her, he ran to catch up, only to see her stopping half a block away and waiting under the light of a lone street lamp.

“That was amusing,” she said. “Kind of pointless, but amusing nonetheless. Plus now I have gifts for Cinder and Emerald and mom.”

“That’s it?” he asked, suddenly feeling rather empty. He realized with a start that he had been having fun.

“Not unless you had other plans for tonight,” she said, guileless red eyes locking with his. One eyebrow perked up. “You weren’t planning to go on a date, I can forgive you for not being entirely... prepared to entertain a lady all night.”

“I’m always ready to entertain a lady all night,” he said before the words could go through all the filters in his mind labelled ‘don’t commit suicide by Grimm Princess.’

Akelarre’s eyes widened and a touch of red splashed across her cheeks. She slapped his arm, not hard, but enough that he felt it. “You’re such a pervert.”

He gave her a winning grin, the kind that had gotten ladies to swoon before. “I am something of a rogue,” he said.

“Well, mister rogue, you’ll have to do better than one poorly planned date to impress me,” she said before turning on one heel to move away. “But I might take you up on it if you ask nicely.”

He didn’t know what she would take him up on, and his fuzzy, bloodless head was more than happy to conjure some images for him. “Yeah, yeah,” he said.

Then he realized that she was well and truly gone, and that he was out alone on the streets of Vale, only the light of a single lamppost to keep him company.

“Neo’s going to kill me,” he said.

Maybe he could placate her with stolen jewelry?


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-One

Velvet sighed. 

She didn’t want to be a coward. That wasn’t why she became a huntress or went to Beacon, but she certainly didn’t feel brave doing as she was. 

The others were all still in Beacon, probably. It was hard to tell. The past few weeks the team had been a little... rough. Oh, they were still all close, but now it felt off. 

At first Coco was the shining beacon of team CFVY, she was the glue that held them together and the social juggernaut that wrapped the team around her pinky and dragged them into adventures. 

Now... well now Coco was reserved and shy and withdrawn. It didn’t help that when she was at her lowest the professors tore into her for being irresponsible, and until Velvet showed Ozpin the pictures she had taken no one really believed them.

She couldn’t stand being in the same room as a quiet Coco that just didn’t want to engage with her anymore. It was like the exact opposite of how the start of their term in Beacon only Velvet didn’t have the social know-how to pull Coco out of her funk.

So, like the coward she was, she took a Bullhead to Vale and wandered the shops, spending more time staring at the pretty dresses behind windowed fronts and wondering what Coco would say than actually doing anything.

She sighed again and turned away from the storefront she was standing before, her attention scanning across the sparse mid-afternoon crowd before she started walking.

Her feet locked in place and she spun around, scanning the people walking by again until she noticed a tall person in a white cloak across the street. She was walking next to a little girl in a white and brown and pink outfit who carried a parasol, the girl gesturing wildly without opening her mouth as she pointed at different things. The woman in the cloak nodded along.

It couldn’t be.

Adjusting her purse so that she wouldn’t have a hard time grabbing Anesidora, she ran her hands down her summer dress and started making her way across the street. She placed one hand on her sun hat to make sure it didn’t get caught in the wind and pull at her ears which were poking through.

Her suspicions only grew as a glove-covered hand poked out of the cloak to point at one thing or another. 

She slid behind a group of teenage boys when the girl with the cloak turned to look her way, her ears bending down as she kneeled a little and tried to make herself as small as possible.

“Uh, you okay?” one of the boys asked. 

She blinked dumbly at him. “Yes,” she said before looking to see that the girl in the cloak and the little girl were crossing the street towards an ice cream parlour with a terrace with little parasol-covered tables. 

They settled down at a table and waited until a waiter arrived to take their order, then the girl in the cloak said something and left. Parasol girl waved her off and started fidgeting in her seat. 

The moment the girl in the cloak disappeared into the shop Velvet moved closer, using a convenient alleyway to hide herself while spying on their table.

She started thinking of her options. Calling the professors would probably be wise, but then the wouldn’t be fair to her team. Coco needed a win, really bad. Could they take Akelarre, if it really was her, in such a public place?

On the one hand, she probably didn’t have an army of Grimm to support her.

On the other hand, being riddled full of armour-piercing bullets didn’t seem to bother her all that much. Also, she was kind of scary. And nice until she got shot. 

“Can I help you?” 

Velvet felt her ears going ramrod straight and she froze on the spot, eyes wide and breath caught in her throat. Turning first her eyes then her head towards the deeper parts of the alleyway, she found herself facing a face hidden by deep shadow.

“Wait... Velvet?”

Pulling back her hood enough that her red eyes became visible, Akelarre smiled at Velvet showing off a row of pearly whites that she was almost surprised to note weren’t all sharpened for tearing into flesh. “A-Akelarre,” Velvet said. “Uh, I... how did you know I was here?”

The woman blinked and her smile grew wry. “You’re supposed to pretend that you weren’t spying on me then keep denying everything until the sun goes down,” she said. “But I’m glad you’re not like that.”

“Ah,” she said. That made sense. “B-but you already knew I was here... how did you know I was here?”

“Don’t be silly. I know where everyone is.” Akelarre’s hand shot out and wrapped around Velvet’s. “Come, you should meet Neo.”

“N-neo?” Velvet asked as she was pulled along after the Grimm girl. “Is, is she like you?” she asked.

“Oh no, Neo is just about the exact opposite of me in every way that counts,” Akelarre said. 

As they neared the table, the girl, Neo, looked up and blinked once as she took them both in, then her eyes met Velvets and a grin spread across her features. It was sharp, a flash of teeth and dimpled cheeks that was nothing less than undiluted smugness. 

“Neo, this is Velvet, Velvet, this is Neo,” Akelarre said as she presented her to the girl.

Neo nodded and her eyes wandered from her feet, up along her legs and across her off-white summer dress until they were back to her eyes. It was the most clinical look Velvet had ever received. Neo raised eight fingers, lowered them, then showed all ten.

Eight over ten? What was that supposed to mean?

Before she could wonder at it, Akelarre started looking around as though searching for something. “I need to find you a chair,” she said.

Neo shook her head, then made a patting gesture on her lap.

“Neo, she can’t sit on your lap. She would squish you.”

The girl brought a hand up and covered her mouth demurely. The effect was ruined when she wiggled her eyebrows. 

“Right, well I’m going to find myself a seat. Velvet, you can take mine!” Akelarre said as she walked off and into the ice cream parlour.

Velvet fidgeted for a moment, watching Neo as she spooned some ice cream from her bowl to her mouth without ever breaking eye contact. “Ah, so, I guess I’ll just leave? Tell Akelarre it was nice to see her!” She spun on her heel and was about to move when she felt something sharp and cold tap her on the shoulder. She looked down slowly, eyes widening at the sight of bare steel casually leaning against her shoulder. 

Turning slowly, she found that Neo was now sitting on the table, spoon in mouth and one hand outstretched to hold a sword. She nodded her head towards Akelarre’s seat.

Swallowing, Velvet moved towards the seat, adjusted her skirt, and sat down. When she looked up Neo was back in her seat as if nothing had happened. She didn’t even see the girl move.

Neo picked up another spoonful of ice cream and shoved it into her mouth with an indecent sound of pleasure.

“I’m back!” Akelarre said as she brought a chair around and slid it between Neo and Velvet, her other hand was carrying a small tray with three small bowls of sundae. Neo’s eyes widened and she pushed aside her own to grab one of them. The other two Akelarre placed before Velvet and herself. “I got vanilla. I thought it was the safe bet.”

“Thank you?” Velvet said as she eyed the ice cream. It probably wasn’t poisoned. Probably.

Akelarre grinned at her and sat down properly. “So, why were you so sad earlier?”

“What?” Velvet asked.

“Earlier, before you spotted us. You were kinda just staring off into the distance and sighing a lot. Did something happen?”

“I... you noticed me back then?” she asked.

“I see everything,” Akelarre explained as if it was the simplest thing. “That’s why we’re out right now. We’re spying on criminals. Uh, don’t tell them though. It’s going to ruin the surprise. Anyway, I saw that you looked sad, but I didn’t recognize you until you started spying on us from the alleyway.” She pointed with her spoon.

“I wasn't sad,” Velvet tried to defend herself while unpacking the rest of what the Grimm girl had said. 

“You sure?” Akelarre asked and if Velvet didn’t know what she was, she might have been fooled by the note of concern in her voice.

Then Neo stuck out her lips and made them wobble while bunching her fists under her eyes as if crying. 

“Neo,” Akelarre said before bopping the girl on the forehead with her spoon. “Don’t mock Velvet. She’s nice.”

Neo rubbed at the spot on her forehead and pouted.

“You should apologize.”

Neo flashed Velvet the finger.

Akelarre sighed and patted Neo on the head as if she was an unruly puppy. The look wasn’t improved by the way Neo leaned into the touch. “That’s really the best you’re going to get,” she said. “But at least Neo hasn’t threatened you yet. I think she likes you.”

Neo nodded and raised both hands, pointed to Akelarre, then Velvet, then herself before she started making downright lewd gestures. Akelarre pushed the hands down, a faint blush on her too-white cheeks.

“S-so, what upset you?”

Velvet fidgeted in her seat, aware that she was in the middle of Vale and that it didn’t matter at all. “I... my team, CFVY, we got into a bit of trouble after the whole, uh, thing with meeting you,” she said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. But that was months ago. You’re still in trouble?”

“No, no, it’s Coco, she’s been quiet and, well she hasn’t been herself since. She didn’t take us almost dying well.”

Akelarre waved the comment off. “You can tell her that I wouldn’t have killed her even if she did kill me first. I know that there’s a stigma against the Grimm. She should have tried talking before shooting, but she wasn’t entirely in the wrong. Or, well, she was, but I can understand why she did what she did.”

“I think it’s more about not being able to help, actually. We could have died and it would have been her fault. At least, that’s what she’s saying. We just want our Coco back.” She leaned forwards until her ears dipped down enough to enter her line of sight.

“Sounds like Coco needs a win. If you want I can have some ant Grimm burrow a hole under the walls and she can stand at the opened hole and mow down a whole swarm of Grimm with that gun of hers. I’m pretty sure I can make it look heroic and it won’t cost me anything.”

“Won’t a bunch of Grimm die?” Velvet asked. Then she blinked. “Wait, there are holes leading into the city?”

“Not yet,” she said. “And yeah, but most Grimm are pretty expendable. And It’s not like it costs me anything to make a few million more.”

Velvet felt her mouth going dry so she shoved a spoonful of vanilla ice cream into it. The ice cream tasted like sadness and mounting despair. “So, what’s the point?” she asked.

“The point?” Akelarre asked. “The point to what?”

“You could just destroy us all, couldn’t you? W-why are you letting us live?” Velvet asked.

“Personally, I’m not a fan of mass extinction. Some people need killing, but most bad people can be arrested or reformed. I’m thinking of trying to convince Mom to give humanity more room. But that doesn’t answer your question, does it?” she asked with a giggle. “I think the biggest reason is that you provide stuff like this.” She raised her empty bowl of ice cream.

“Ice cream?” Velvet asked.

Neo nodded solemnly. 

“No, not ice cream. Products. The Grimm can’t make ice cream. Or food. Or clothes, cars, phones, books, or anything else. The Grimm are really good at destroying things, but they’re not Tinkers. We need everyone else for that. At the same time, I think Mom is a little afraid that people might rise up against her, so she pretends that she doesn’t exist. It’s worked so far.”

“So what, as long as we keep making things we’re okay?” Velvet asked. “We’re, we’re like slaves?”

Akelarre looked down. “Not really? Kinda?” she said while her arms wrapped themselves around her chest. “It’s not that simple, or all that complicated really. Mom wants to live, to be left alone, and humans want her dead. Not that they could kill her if they tried. So we have this situation, an eternal stalemate where humanity is kept in check and the Grimm rule the world. But I think we could do better.”

“Better?” Velvet repeated. Akelarre sounded so... she didn’t have the words for it. But she reminded Velvet of Ozpin when he gave his start-of-the-year speech. He had sounded so idealistic and happy, as if the future was going to be this bright and awesome place. Akelarre had the same tone, as if everything was going to be okay if she just listened to her.

“Humanity tends to hurt itself. It’s silly, but that’s just how it is. Actual slavery, corruption, governments and corporations that almost take on a life of their own. It’s annoying and fighting it is so hard. But we still should.” She smiled at Velvet, an honest grin that had the bunny faunus’ heart skipping a beat. “Did you know,” she said as she leaned in, as though about to reveal a secret. Velvet’s ears perked forwards. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to get the Grimm into space.”

“W-what?” Velvet squawked. 

“Uh huh. Think about it! Grimm don’t need to breath, or eat. Temperature isn’t as big an issue, not unless they’re extreme. It would be so easy to land a few on the moon if we had a big enough rocket and the know how behind it.”

“You want to send Grimm into space?” Velvet asked. The mental image of a Beowolf strapped to a rocket like something out of a cartoon flashed into her mind and she slapped a hand over her mouth as a giggle escaped.

Her breath caught, cutting off the laugh as she looked towards Akelarre who was pouting. She tried to take a breath, but it came out as a snort.

“Okay, fine, laugh it up. You won’t think it’s so funny once I figure out how to drop spiders from orbit,” Akelarre said, but there was a hint of amusement there that helped Velvet calm down. “My ODSSs will be feared across the world.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just so... silly.”

Akelarre shook her head as she stood up and reached over towards Velvet. She relaxed into her seat until she saw that Akelarre was reaching for her bowl. Her empty bowl. She didn’t remember eating all of her ice cream. “If you’re done eating,” Akelarre said as she stacked the bowls. “We should head out, we still have a few places to scout out for later.”

“What are you scouting them for?” Velvet asked. It struck her just how open Akelarre was. Not at all what she would have expected from a Grimm. 

“We’re looking for criminals to arrest them,” Akelarre said. Then she paused and eyed Velvet up and down critically. “Hey, Hunters are kinda like heroes, right?” 

‘Um, I suppose,” Velvet said. Fox would have agreed, but Yatsu would have said that it was their duty to protect humanity first. 

“What would your friends think of stopping a whole lot of criminals?” Akelarre asked.

***  
(\\_/)  
(o.o)  
(___)0

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway. 

As a special note, this week marks the day we pass 225K of Worm fiction posted in 2019. And It’s only been 211 days since the start of the year! I could not have gotten this many words out for your viewing pleasure without the help of my friends and my patrons, and of course the many crazies on the Raven’s Nest Discord. So thank you! And here’s to hitting 360K before December 31st!


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Two

“So,” Velvet said, her two forfingers pressed together somewhere before her chest and her head tilted down so that her summer hat hid her eyes a little. “I have a friend,” she started before looking up and into her scroll. The innocuous device was leaning against a parasol in the middle of a table, its screen lit up with a live image of one very unimpressed Coco Adel. “My friend kind of needs help. Back in Vale. Right now.”

“Velvet,” Coco said. “What happened?”

“N-nothing,” Velvet said. The truth was maybe a teensy-bit too complicated to say aloud. Also, there were people in the tables next to her.

“Bun, if you had friends in Vale we would know. What’s really going on?” Coco asked.

“I do have friends in Vale,” Velvet protested. Akelarre was kind of a friend. Maybe. And Neo... okay, so Neo was just scary, but Coco had been scary too, at first. “And they do need help... please?”

“A friend in need,” Yatsu’s voice said from off-screen. “Very well. Our homework can wait one night. Shall we bring all of our equipment?”

Velvet’s shoulders slumped. “Yes, and thank you,” she said. “I didn’t know if you would be willing to help.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Velv,” Fox said. “But what kind of trouble can we expect?” He seemed more than eager to shove his homework away and get to her side.

“Um, criminals?” Velvet said. She probably should have asked Akelarre more questions, but she had been nervous.

“Right, how about you two go on and grab all of our gear,” Coco said. “I just need to talk to Velvet for a moment.”

She could imagine Fox and Yatsu sharing a look. “I can stay. It’s not like I can pick out your lockers from the rest,” Fox said.

Coco frowned a little and reached up to fix a beret that wasn’t there. “Really guys, it wouldn’t interest you.”

“Nonetheless,” Yatsu said. “I wouldn’t have a difficult time carrying all of your equipment. I have been blessed with the strength to help my friends.”

Coco stood off her bed, placed both hands on her hips, and with a flash of the girl she had been, scowled at Yatsu and Fox. “Fine. We were going to have an in-depth discussion about our periods.”

“Coco?!” Velvet squeaked.

“See, we finally synched up this week and both of us are practically flooding. Since Velvet's in Vale I was going to ask her to pick up some of those super absorbent heavy duty rags. I’m sure you’ll love hearing every last detail,” Coco said.

“Coco’s lying!” Velvet said past her horrible flush.

A few of the people in the tables nearest to hers were giving her very strange looks.

“We know,” Fox said elusively. “She just wants us out of here.”

With a huff, Coco crossed her arms. “Fine. I didn’t want to bring it up, but Velvet is actually going in heat and was planning on ravishing me via scroll before we leave on this errand.”

“Coco!” Velvet screeched. “I... that’s a myth. I’ve never ravished anyone.”

“I notice that you’re not saying that you weren’t planning to,” Coco said.

“Coco!”

The looks were growing rather pointed and one older lady shook her head and stood out of her seat to leave. “Kids these days,” she scoffed. “Degenerates.”

Yatsu sighed and Fox looked ready to do the same. He pressed a huge hand against his face and rubbed it. “I sense that we’re not wanted here. Very well, we’ll leave you two alone while fetching our gear. We will be back though, and soon.”

“Yeah yeah,” Coco said dismissively. She watched as the boys moved out of the room, then turned sharp brown eyes onto the screen. “Tell me everything.”

“There’s um, nothing to tell?” she tried.

Coco’s eyes narrowed. “Bun Bun,” she said. “How about you find a nice, quiet corner and tell me what’s actually going on.”

Sighing, Velvet nodded, picked up her scroll and purse and moved out of the terrace and towards a public restroom. It wasn’t exactly the stealthiest place, but after making sure all the stalls were empty she deemed it good enough to talk to Coco.

“Really Bun, a bathroom?”

“We could always wait for you to arrive here,” Velvet said.

Coco’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow, Bun, that comment almost had some bite. Is there a bee in that pretty hat of yours?”

“N-no,” she said, hesitating for a moment as she wondered if Akelarre might have snuck a Grimm bee onto her head. She dismissed the idea because panicking while in a bathroom wouldn’t help anything. “No bees.”

“Right. Who’s your friend?”

Velvet winced. “Ah, about that,” she began. “Promise you won’t be angry?”

“Oh no, I’m promising no such thing,” Coco said. “The only times people say that is when they know that they’ll get someone angry. Do you know something that’ll make me angry? And no trying to slip it past me, Velvet. I know when you’re lying.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Velvet said.

Coco snorted, then gave a fake, higher pitch to her voice. “‘Oh, I was j-just, just taking an extra long shower. It-it takes a lot of work to clean my ears.’”

Velvet felt her face burning up and had to look away from Coco’s victorious grin. “Fine. You remember Akelarre?”

“Akelarre... the Grimm girl? Velvet, tell me you haven’t been talking to her. Is she your friend?” Velvet, you need to get back here, now. Wait, do you need help? Blink twice if she’s watching you.”

Velvet twitched at Coco’s sudden outburst. “No, it’s not like that,” she said and Coco slumped on-screen. “Akelarre is actually really nice. She bought me ice cream.”

“You went on a date with a Grimm?!” Coco shouted.

A woman stepped into the bathroom, paused, then spun on her heel to leave.

“Coco.” Velvet huffed. “It wasn’t a date. Akelarre saw me, um, looking at her and she invited me to talk. That’s all.”

“And now she wants you to lure us over to her?” Coco asked. She wasn’t even trying to hide her suspicious tone. “How do you know she won’t double cross you?”

Velvet suppressed a pout and started walking from one end of the bathroom to the other, her reflection in the mirror looking only half as frustrated as she felt. “Because,” she started slowly. “Because she’s nice, and she explained things, and she never hurt anyone that I saw.”

“She could have killed us,” Coco said.

“You did kill her,” Velvet shot back. She huffed. “Just trust me? Please?”

Their eyes met through the screen for a few long seconds. Coco slumped back and crashed into Velvet’s bed. “Fine. I’ll trust you, Bun Bun.”

The screen flashed once and went black.

Velvet had the impression that the night was going to get complicated.

***

“Hello!” Akelarre said with a jaunty wave.

The warehouse her bugs had found was a nice, dry place to talk about the sort of things she was up to. It was poorly lit, had a few ominous creaks with the passing of the wind and smelled a bit like rotting meat. Things that were usually pretty bad, but that were perfect for skullduggery and other such fun.

Neo didn’t seem to mind it at all. She was sitting on a crate, her head only a bit higher than Akelarre’s from her new perch, with her feet thumping into the box without making a sound.

The motion seemed to be driving the gatling gun girl, Coco, mad.

“You must be wondering why I invited you all here tonight?” she asked.

The four members of team CFVY stared at her with wildly different looks. The Yatsu boy seemed calm and composed, Fox was staring at a point past her shoulders while twitching with nervous energy. Coco... Coco looked ready to start shooting Akelarre again.

And Velvet smiled timidly from her spot in Coco’s shadow and gave her a brave little wave.

“Yeah, Grimm girl, we want to know why you invited us here,” Coco said.

“I’m sensing some hostility,” Akelarre said. “Also, Grimm Girl is a horrible name for a superhero.”

“You think you’re a superhero?” Coco deadpanned.

Akelarre shrugged one shoulder, an expression she had learned from Neo. She understood that Coco was somewhat upset with her, but at this point it was clear that the problem was born from an initial dislike, a bad response and some bias that Akelarre couldn’t do anything about. That, and Coco probably blamed her for every bad thing that had happened after their last encounter. It wasn’t fair, not for Akelarre, but it was understandable.

If she was better at socializing she might have been able to figure a way out of it that didn’t involve her current plan, but she wasn’t and it wasn’t a situation that could be reminded via application of a few metric tonnes of bug.

“I would rather people see me as a superhero than as a supervillain, even if I represent everything evil in the world,” she said honestly. “But I might not be given that option. After all, people are quick to shoot first and not ask questions.”

Coco flinched at that, but her back straightened a moment later. “So what, you want us to help you burn down an orphanage?”

Akelarre rolled her eyes and saw Neo doing the same through the eyes of her bug friends. “Nothing of the sort. There are some criminals I’d like to remove from the street. Not normal ones either. These are all horrible men and women that deserve their time behind bars. None of them look beyond your team’s ability though.”

Coco frowned at her, then turned to spear Velvet with her eyes. They softened a moment later when Velvet Cowered away. “And what’s in it for us?”

“You get to remove some bad guys from the streets, work with me to help me prove that I’m not a heartless villain and I’ll give you this.” Reaching into her hood, Akelarre pulled the beret she had stolen off her head.

“Wait, you still have that?” Coco asked.

“I thought it was fashionable.”

Coco snorted. “That thing hasn’t been fashionable in half a decade.”

Velvet looked at Coco’s back, then down to her hands which we bunched together before her. “I thought it was cute,” she said.

Coco stiffened. “Ah, well fashion can be complicated. You looked adorable with it on,” she said.

Velvet’s smile was a little watery, but it was there nonetheless. “Thanks Coco.”

“Wait, did this belong to Velvet to begin with?” Akelarre said as she raised the beret.

“Nevermind that,” Coco said. “I want to know why you want us to do your dirty work.”

Akelarre shared a glance with Velvet then refocuses on Coco. “Very well. This situation is one where I can kill a flock of nevermore with a single rocket, as you say. The Knights of Vale are a violent gang, they peddle hard drugs and aren’t above basically enslaving people. Getting rid of them is its own reward, but it will also allow me to test the response time of the local police department, see how they handle themselves on the field, and observe your team in action.”

“Sounds a lot like you’re spying on us,” Coco said.

“Coco,” Velvet said as she laid a hand on Coco’s shoulder.

“No Velvet, I think I’ve had enough of this,” Coco shot back. She slid her Scroll out from her pocket and pressed a thumb against the already-lit screen. “I’m sorry Grimm Girl, but if you’re really so nice, I’m sure we can all learn about it once you’re in a cell.”

“Coco!” Velvet screamed.

The wall at the far end of the warehouse exploded inwards, the rocking, tearing sound loud enough to make the members of team CFVY wince, but not nearly so well as the sound that followed.

“Peter! Smash!” 

A red and gold blur crossed the warehouse, something long and brilliant at the end of its arm.

The gun the man was holding came down butt-first, the axeheads built into it slicing through Akelarre with no resistance at all.

For a moment the scene held, then Akalarre’s face twisted into a grin.

The warehouse cracked, the illusion shattered.

***

Akelarre, the real Akelarre, sighed and reached up to adjust her beret.

She recalled the many insects she had in the warehouse, leaving only the less interesting or useful ones behind to spy on team CFVY and the half dozen Beacon professors charging into the room.

Brushing her pant legs, she moved away from the window of the apartment complex next to the warehouse and turned to find Neo laying back on a dilapidated bed, legs swinging the same way as her illusionary self’s had. “It’s a bust,” she said.

Neo raised one hand and made a vague wishy-washy gesture.

“Yeah, I know. I guess we’ll have to do all the hard work ourselves.”

Neo bent her legs up until her knees were near her chin, then kicked out and landed on her feet. She walked over to Akelarre, gave her a quick hug, then pulled at one of her hands.

“Really? I know we made a bet, but you ate two sundaes already. Isn’t that enough ice cream for one day?”

Neo’s over dramatized motions to the contrary didn’t stop her from pulling Akelarre along.

***

Number of: “Coco!” this chapter: 7

That’s my new favourite line. Just Velvet saying ‘Coco’ with a slightly different emphasis to mean entirely different things.

Oh, and we need a ship name for Akelarre x Peter Port. Any Port in a Storm? No, too vague. Anyway...

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Three

The goon’s skid along the shop’s floor was quite impressive. Roman gave him a three out of ten. It would have been higher but the cause of said skidding detracted quite a few points. 

“Are you okay down there... Chris, was it?”

Junior’s goon raised one thumb, then his arm fell flat to the side and his head flopped back.

“You take a breather,” Roman advised before looking at the source of the disturbance. He found himself locking eyes with a short girl in a red dress. She would have been unassuming enough, standing in between two rows of Dust dispensers, if it wasn’t for the smoldering anger in her pretty little silver eyes.

Now, so far his spat of robberies on Cinder’s behalf had all gone pretty well. A few threats, some fist waving, maybe a few witty one-liners for the shopkeepers and customers to repeat for the media. All good, wholesome fun that left him richer by the day.

It made him happy, it made Cinder happy, and Akelarre didn’t eat him. Good times all around.

It seemed as though his good luck started to hit some bumps in the road. “Hey there, Red,” he said.

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” the girl growled.

Roman gasped, placing a hand over his heart as if she was the most precious thing since Neo first shanked someone or discovered ice cream, events that, if memory served, happened within minutes of each other. “Oh, but Red, I’m no stranger,” he said with a wide gesture of his cane. A few of the Suits were approaching him and the goon on the floor was helped to his feet by some of his buddies. “I am Roman Torchwick, thief extraordinaire.” 

Red’s eyes narrowed. “So you are robbing the store,” she said, then let out a sigh that was just gut-wrenching, the kind of sound a puppy would make when kicked. “Aww, man, dad’s going to be so annoying now.”

“What’s wrong, Red?” Roman asked with faux-casualness. He gestured to the side for his goons to keep working and a few of the smarter ones started packing up more Dust products. “Why is your daddy going to be angry? How about I give you a nice selfie and maybe sign a hat for you? Won’t that make you feel better?” He used the tip of his cane to flip a ‘Make Remnant Great Again’ hat off from a stand next to the counter and waved it at Red.

“No, he’s going to be annoying because he made me promise not to get into trouble, but you’re robbing the store, so I have to stop you,” she said.

“Well, aren’t you precious,” he said.

Then Red reached around her back and brought up a large steel box that he recognized as... well, something that was mechashift.

The box slid apart, unfolded, clicked a few times and unfolded some more until the girl was standing next to a scythe whose shiny blade was as long as she was tall. With an expert twirl that managed to avoid knocking any of the shelves around her, she brought the scythe around and let the tip of its blade sink a couple of inches into the floor. 

Roman noticed the rather large, bore-like hole at the end of the shaft pointing in his direction and licked his lips. The girl was quickly growing to be far less precious. 

Another box unfolded itself along the haft of the spear and two red lasers speared out towards Roman’s chest and hovered over his heart. “Mistress, I am ready to annihilate the cookie-hating heretics,” the scythe said.

“Good,” Red said to her talking weapon. Because his day wasn’t complicated enough as it was. 

“Distract her!” he said before rolling to the side. 

Junior’s boys were on the ball, running at the girl with their weapons raised.

“Thank you!” he called out to them before he spotted a suitcase loaded with Dust crystals. He swooped in to pick it off the floor while running towards the front door. 

His path was, unfortunately, cut off when one of the goons flew past him and through the front window with a clatter of broken glass. Shoes spinning on bits of glass, he came to a stop only to hop out of the window, roll across the sidewalk and jumped to his feet. 

“Wait!” Red called from inside the store. 

“Gravity-Dust Tipped High Explosive Fin-Stabilized Sabot: loaded. Likelihood of splatter reaching our current location: 100 percent! Mistress, take the shot!”

Roman Torchwick was many things, but a fool he was not. “Waiting, waiting!” he called out while raising the hand which held his cane by its top. His other arm came up and brought the suitcase full of dust up to protect his chest. “Don’t shoot!” 

Red was holding her talking scythe by her side, leaning it against her hip. “Are you surrendering?” she asked.

“Not quite,” he said, one finger lifting on the hand that held the case. “See, this here case is chock full of weapon’s grade dust. You shoot me, this goes boom, then the whole street turns into a crater.”

“Mistress! Let’s do it!” 

“No Crescent Rose, dad will be extra annoyed if we have to pay to fix the street,” Red said. 

He was a little disappointed that the thought of what would happen to him in that scenario didn’t cross her mind. 

“Drop the case, buster,” she said.

He blinked at being called ‘buster’ of all things. Did she think she was in a sitcom?

“I have a better idea,” he said. With a slash, he swung his cane around, the tip popping open just in time for him to fire a round at her.

Wide-eyed, the girl jumped to the side and rolled out of the path of his shot which exploded somewhere behind her. He wasn’t sticking around to watch though, too busy running towards the nearest building to make his way to the top.

“Mistress, he is escaping! Destroy him.”

“Darn it!” Red screamed.

Roman chose to start moving a little faster. 

He tossed the case onto the roof and followed after it, picking it up as he ran towards the far end. He tucked his cane under one arm and pulled out his scroll, thumb flashing as he dialed a number. “Where are you?!” he screamed into the scroll as soon as she dial tone ended.

“We’re here,” Cinder’s smooth, unruffled voice said over the line. 

A crack behind him announced the presence of Red who, being the cheating little cheater that she was, skipped the whole climbing up the ladder part. “Stop!” she called after him.

“Mistress!” he gun called out. “Cut off his knees!”

“Now now, Red, no need to cut off my pretty little knees,” Roman said as he spun around near the lip of the roof. “Especially not since I am leaving.”

His ride, a simple unmarked Bullhead, rose up from the streets below and came to hover behind him, the wind kicked up by its engines snappnig at his jacket and making Red bring a hand up to mask her face. 

“A parting gift, my dear!” he called out after hopping onto the Bullhead. From within his jacket he pulled a fire Dust crystal that size of his fist and tossed it towards Red. It bounced twice before skidding to a halt at the girl’s feet. 

Raising his cane, he took aim and fired. 

“Mistress!” 

The explosion rocked the Bullhead in the air and he could see Cinder in the pilot’s seat fighting the ship for control. He was about to laugh and make a snide remark when the dust cleared and revealed a shimmering round shield of crackling Dust. 

“Oh, come on,” he said.

A hand wrapped itself around his shoulder, black as pitch and tipped with sharpened bones. “I’ll take care of it.”

***

Glynda Goodwitch was a woman on a mission. 

Insofar as Ozpin’s vague instructions could be considered missions. 

Nonetheless, her title as huntress and her job as headmistress of Beacon implied a certain level of protectiveness towards those who were weaker than her. Which meant, of course, that when she saw a young woman facing off against one of Vale’s most notorious criminals it was her solemn duty to step in and protect the child. 

“Are you well?” she asked over one shoulder.

“Oh-hoh! Of course she’s well! Look at the anger in those pretty eyes. This here girl is ready to take a chunk out of that criminal scum, isn’t that right!”

Glynda sighed. She had almost, for one blissful moment, forgotten that she wasn’t alone. 

Peter Port smacked the young woman on the shoulder hard enough that she stumbled to the side. Her ‘angry’ eyes looked a lot more ‘wide and bewildered’ to Glynda than anything else. A reasonable response to being near Port.

“Peter, could you keep the young lady safe,” Glynda asked as she began to weave Dust in a very precise way. “I will take care of the Bullhead.” With a last twist of her crop and a push of willpower six brilliant balls of Dust took to the air and arced on a direct course towards the Bullhead. 

It was going to be a hassle explaining to the VPD why she had downed an aircraft over a civilian sector, but capturing Torchwick would be worth it.

She caught blurs in the darkness of the night and all six of her projectiles burst apart in mid-air.

Her eyes narrowed. Something had intercepted her attack. 

Before she could begin to weave another, a form shrouded in white jumped out of the Bullhead and landed on one knee at the edge of the rooftop, its long cloak pooling around its body until, with a slow, almost menacing motion, it stood up and lifted its shadow-covered face towards them. All Glynda could make out was a smiling mouth and a pair of faintly glowing eyes. “Hello,” she, because the voice was definitely feminine, said. 

The Bullhead’s engines whined and the vehicle started to pull up. With another flick of her wrist, Gylnda sent a barrage after the craft, only a for a dozen white forms to slip out of the cloak the woman was wearing and intercept the blasts in mid-air. 

Glynda felt her expression go flat as the Bullhead started gaining speed and raced across the city. She might have been able to hit it, but now a miss would mean hitting civilian areas and the potential collateral was unjustifiable. She turned her gaze onto the woman in the cloak. “Stand down and place your hands behind your head,” she ordered.

The woman tilted her head to one side, the gesture too mechanical, like an insect staring down a smaller bug. “Are you trying to arrest me?” she asked.

Glynda lifted her crop, ready to act. “Yes, yes I am.”

“Ah... you know that jumping out of a Bullhead isn’t illegal, right? I looked.” She pointed over one shoulder at the Bullhead that was still visible in the distance.

“Um,” the girl in the red cape said. “I think it’s because you helped that criminal guy.”

Glynda would have chastised the girl, but she was essentially correct. She nodded, the gesture served to dislodge a fly that had landed on her forehead. “Indeed.”

“Right, I guess that would be some sort of aiding and abetting charge? Maybe? I’m not all that familiar with all the laws in Vale yet.”

“Be that as it may,” Glynda said. “We’ll have questions for you.”

“Oho! No worries, little lady! You probably won’t spend your life behind bars. Or my name isn't Peter Port!”

The woman’s head jerked back up. “That didn’t make sense,” she said, her voice rising over a low buzz coming from the streets below.

Glynda was feeling the first shades of a headache coming on. “Please just stand down,” she said.

“That made a lot more sense,” the young woman said. “But I’m going to have to pass.

“You’re looking for a tussle aren’t you?” Peter said. “Well, you came to the right rooftop, Peter boy--that’s me--is always ready for a good round of fisticuffs. Ladies have always admired my skills with a closed fist.”

The girl raised a hand, then lowered it. “I’m also going to pass on that offer, whatever it may be. I came here because I had a few questions, but I’m beginning to regret not staying on the Bullhead.”

“You’ll be able to get some answers,” Gylnda said with a wave of her crop. The young woman’s arms cartwheeled as Gylnda used her semblance and lifted her off the ground. She wasn’t reaching for a ranged weapon, so chances were good that Glynda had just removed her ability to fight. “From within a cell.”

The woman’s frantic waving stopped a moment later and she looked around, as though searching for the source of the power levitating her. “Is this the work of your Semblance?” she asked with a rather calm voice, all things considered. 

Glynda rose to the tips of her toes, ready to move. It took a certain mentality to dismiss such an obvious threat.

“You know, this is maybe the most powerful Semblance I’ve ever seen,” she added.

“Our Glynda here is quite the powerhouse. And she’s a looker. The whole package,” Peter said. Glynda’s headache was growing.

“Does she need line of sight for this? Because if she doesn’t then this is incredibly versatile. I don’t think Semblances are Manton limited. She could target individual muscles to make someone drop a weapon. Or she could just crush a person’s heart or scramble their brains with a twitch.”

Glynda noted the red-clad child taking a step away from her. “We are not here to discuss my Semblance,” she said. “Under my authority as a Huntress of the Kingdom of Vale I place you under arrest. You’d be making all of our lives easier if you surrendered without a fight.”

The girl shook her head. “If you answer some questions for me I’ll be more than willing to back off,” she said. 

“I don’t think so,” Gylnda said.

“Your loss,” the young woman said.

Glynda was preparing herself to pull the girl closer, to use her power to divest her of any weapons, when a sharp pain bit through her wrist, then the nape of her neck and both thighs. She gasped, concentration slipping just enough that her telekinetic grasp dipped and the girl she was holding up touched the ground.

The low buzz from the streets below intensified tenfold and when Glynda raised her crop again it was to see black tendrils racing up around them like the twisting bodies of sea dragons. The limbs crashed down around them, splitting apart into swarms of insects that rushed around Glynda and Port and the girl, coming closer every moment until the three of them found each other moving closer and closing ranks.

She saw a form in the swarm, of a young woman in a cloak and whipped her crop out to grab her, but her telekinetic pull only tore the silhouette apart and scattered it back into the swarm. It was joined by a dozen others, vaguely humanoid shapes standing amongst the chittering masses, red eyes glowing as they watched. 

“Now, I have a few questions for you, if you wouldn’t mind?” the swarm asked, every syllable rendered with clicks and the chittering in insects. “Ah, I’m sorry, you seem to be nervous. There’s no need to be afraid.”

“I don’t know,” the girl in red said. “That’s a lot of bugs.”

“You’re right, I didn’t consider whether any of you might be Entomophobic,” the swarm said.

The girl made a confused little noise. “You think we don’t want bugs to marry each other?”

Glynda twitched. “Peter, take the child and leave.”

“There’s no need for that. I wouldn’t harm Ruby, she’s nice.” This time the voice came from a few different directions, first from Glynda’s left, then behind her, then before her, only for a few words before switching places. “First question, last night you moved to assault a warehouse near the docks that was, at the time, occupied by team CFVY. Why?”

Glynda’s breath caught. “How do you know about that?” she asked while preparing to cast again. A sufficiently powerful Dust attack would devastate the swarm. The trick was going to be hitting close enough to hurt the insects without injuring the three on the rooftop. She and Port could take a blow, but the civilian was just a young woman. Maybe an electrical discharge while using her Semblance to prevent it from grounding on the girl?

“Please just answer the question.”

“We were going to try and apprehend a criminal,” Glynda said.

“You mean me?” the swarm asked. “Strange. I don’t believe I committed any crimes.”

“You just helped someone rob a Dust store,” Glynda pointed out.

“I meant yesterday.” How a swarm of millions of insects managed to sound contrite, Glynda would never know. 

“You’re the Grimm girl,” Glynda said.

The swarm seemed to pause, then, from the shadows, insects the size of dogs rose up, red eyes glowing faintly. Glynda swallowed and started revising her plans. “Please answer my question,” she said.

“What happened yesterday?” the girl in red asked.

“Ah, the lady here and her friend, Mister Port, tried to attack me while I was trying to do business with a hunter team,” the voice of the swarm said.

“Were you doing anything... um, evil?” the girl asked.

“Not at all. I was going to ask them for help taking out some drug dealers.”

“Then why did they attack you?” she asked with the guileless curiosity of a child. Which, Glynda supposed, she was. 

She cleared her throat in the way that had most students snapping to attention. “I do not believe I have to justify myself to a Grimm,” she said.

The swarm buzzed louder for a moment. “Not even if that Grimm is a person? Not even if they have a citizenship in Vale? Not even if that Grimm committed no crime.”

“Wait, is Akelarre saying the truth?” the girl asked.

Glynda whipped around to face her. “You know this creature?”

There was a sigh through the swarm. “Ruby, I was trying to detach you from the situation a little.”

“I’m sorry?” the girl, Ruby said, then she turned angry silver eyes onto Glynda. “Have you been hurting Akelarre?”

“That’s preposterous.” 

“Well, did you?” she asked, tone laced with enough accusation that even Port backed up a step. “That would be... so, so mean. Akelarre is actually really nice.”

“Thanks, Ruby,” the swarm said.

“If she’s so innocent,” Glynda said. “Then explain this swarm.”

The swarm coughed and it was the first time she had heard such a sound from a cognizant flood of insects and Grimm. “I was an innocent bystander aboard an aircraft which a thief boarded. So I jumped out. Then I was assaulted by two unknowns who pointed deadly weapons at me.”

Glynda felt her hand twitch. “It’s a crop.”

“Yes, and Crescent Rose is a gardening tool.”

“Mistress. She has insulted me, and thereby insulted you. Let’s cut her apart!”

One of the shapes in the swarm just pointed towards Ruby and her scythe as if that proved her point. “Be that as it may,” Glynda said. 

“No,” the swarm said. “It has been too long, the police are here, you may have reinforcements coming. Congratulations. You wasted enough of my time that I never got the answers I wanted. I suppose I will have to find them some other way. Goodbye Ruby. Good luck, professors.”

The swarm cleared just as quickly and suddenly as it came, bugs dispersing into the air in every direction and whatever Grimm were hiding amongst them moved away in the confusing mess of motion. 

“Well, that was an exciting evening,” Ruby said. She folded her scythe up and tucked it against the small of her back. “But-I-Have-To-Go-Now-So-Bye!”

She began to move, but a twitch of Glynda’s crop had the girl’s legs kicking out against empty air before she stopped and flopped down like an impotent kitten in its mother’s grasp. “One moment... Ruby was it? I think I might have a few questions of my own for you.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-four

Ruby always imagined that the first time she went to jail it would be with a pocketful of lien to pay for Yang’s bond. Or maybe to pick up Uncle Qrow after he had a bit too much to drink.

But no, Ruby Rose, fifteen, student of Signal Academy, totally badass huntress in training, was cooling her heels in an interrogation room, face squished against the lone table, arms sprawled out across it and eyes half-lidded as if closing them would hide her from the crippling boredom.

Then the door opened and she peeked up, expecting the stern, mean, no-good lady in the tight skirt and ugly cape, (It wasn’t even a proper cloak. What a plebian) but instead it was an older man, white hair combed back, round glasses sitting on the end of his nose and a tray covered in cookies held in one hand.

She sat up, eyed the cookies for a moment longer, then the mug in his other hand before finally deining to look him in the eye. “You must be Miss Rose, I’m Ozpin and... you have silver eyes.”

“And you have cookies. Gimme.”

He let out a laugh that sounded grandfatherly (not that she had much experience there beyond things she saw on TV) and dropped the plate before her. “Dig in,” he said before pulling the chair across from her back and sliding into it. “Once you’re done I-- and you’re done.”

She looked up at him, a sudden wash of guilt filling her tummy, but it was buried under a thick layer of chocolate chips. “Mmm sorry?” she said, a few crumbs escaping. 

“It’s not a problem,” he said, eyes pinching in the corners in a genial smile. “Now, as I was going to say, I had a few questions I was hoping you could answer.”

“And then I get more cookies?” she asked. “Wait, were those Beacon cookies?”

Ozpin’s eyebrows rose. “They were, I’m afraid, perfectly ordinary cookies. I was thinking that we would then let you go after a few questions, but if you would rather stay the night...”

“No, no,” she said, arms waving in denial. Staying in jail for a few hours was going to be hard enough to explain to dad, staying overnight would be... pretty bad. Even if she got more cookies it wouldn’t be worth it, unless it was a lot of them. “I can get my fix somewhere else.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “Now, if you don’t mind, could you explain what happened tonight in your own words? We have the report and the camera footage to help, and of course the two professors as eyewitnesses, but you are the only one who was there the entire time.”

“Oh, yeah, I can do that,” she said. Thinking for a moment, she ran the events of the morning through her mind again and tried to place everything in order before she began. “So, I was at the Dust store because I was bored and Crescent Rose needed more high explosive rounds.”

“That’s your weapon?” 

Ruby nodded. “She’s the best weapon on Remnant.” 

His smile twitched a little. “I see. That’s good to know. I have Professor Port a few rooms down interrogating her, but don’t worr--”

“Without me present?” Ruby asked, her feet smashing into the ground as she stood up to her full height. “She’s a minor, you can’t do that. Doesn’t she need a parent in the room? Or a lawyer? I’m her mommy. I should be there.”

“Um,” the man said. “Technically she’s not alive.”

Ruby gasped. “That’s... that’s so rude.”

He blinked and took a sip from his mug. “As I was going to say, don’t worry. Port will be polite, I’m sure. He may be loud but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I guarantee it.”

Ruby narrowed her eyes at him, but sat back down with a huff. “Fine. So, to continue my story. I was in the Dust store, you know, the one with the candy rack at the back and the magazines near the windows?”

“I know the one, yes.”

“Right. Just minding my own business when this guy told me I was being robbed. So I asked myself, ‘What would Yang do?’ then I punched him.” She made the gesture of punching someone, even adding a ‘wuff’ noise for emphasis.

“I see,” he said.

“Yup. Then that Roman Torchwick guy sassed me. So I showed him Crescent Rose. She sassed him back.”

Ozpin seemed suitably impressed. “And then what happened?”

“He sent his goons at me then ran away.” She huffed, arms crossing over her chest. “The jerk probably thought he could get away.”

“To be fair to Mister Torchwick’s abilities, he did in fact get away,” Ozpin pointed out.

Ruby felt blood rising to her cheeks. “Well... yeah, okay. Anyway, I chased him onto the street, he said this thing about blowing up the city with the Dust he had on him. He tried to shoot me but missed because, I’m, like, super fast. And then he ran up the ladder to the top of a building.”

“And you followed him?” Ozpin asked.

“Pfft, no. I’m wearing a skirt. Skirts are super cute. Yang said so. But they’re kinda bad for climbing. So I shot Crescent Rose and used the recoil to get to the roof.”

He nodded. “That would explain the crater.”

“Ah, I mean, I totally climbed the ladder.”

“Of course,” he said, a bit of a smile returning. “And once you reached the rooftop?”

“Right, right. Um, Roman threw some dust at me, a Bullhead showed up, then those two professors showed up, the mean one and the faunus.” She explained with appropriate gestures.

“The... faunus. Are you talking about the woman who controlled the insects?” he asked.

“What? No, she’s not a faunus. She’s... uh, nevermind. I’m talking about the guy in the red... thing, with the mustache.” Ruby helpfully outlined the man’s mustache with her free hand.

“You’re talking about Professor Peter Port? I’m afraid that he’s not a faunus.”

Ruby blinked, mind going back to what the man had looked like. “Are you sure?” she asked.

“Pretty sure, yes.”

“But he’s so,” she began, gesturing around herself as if to encompass something larger than life. “Walrus-y.”

Ozpin took a sip from his mug.

“Anyway. Ake--uh, the Grimm girl jumped out of the Bullhead and then that mean lady fired some Dust spells at it, which was kind of cool, and then they talked. That’s it.”

“That’s it?” he repeated.

“Pretty much,” Ruby said with a perfectly nonchalant shrug of one shoulder. 

Ozpin leaned back into his seat and brought his mug up to hover under his nose. “Do you know who I am, Miss Rose?” he asked.

“You’re Ozpin the headmaster of Beacon Academy.” 

He chuckled. “My reputation precedes me, I see. Did you ever consider attending my school, Miss Rose?”

Ruby’s breath caught in her throat. Quick as a flash, she ran through everything she had said, her cookie-scarfing episode and how uncool she was being. “Eep.”

“Now, my school could really use more intrepid and... resourceful young woman such as yourself, Miss Rose,” he said and Ruby felt her chest tightening and her eyes growing wider. “Did you know that I can allow students to begin their studies at Beacon early? Miss Rose, if you tell me everything you know about this Grimm girl, I’m certain there would be a place for you at Beacon Academy, where you’ll not only be safe, but will also be in a position to learn amongst the best.”

Ruby gulped.

***

Akelarre took three steps into the room, spun around, and flopped backwards into the couch with all the thundering force of a feather trying to knock down a mountain. Her arms went limp by her sides and she let her head fall back into the soft embrace of the couch. 

“You too?” Roman asked from where he was slumped on a cushioned chair next to the room’s poker table. “I didn’t think you would have trouble dealing with little Red.”

“Oh no,” Akelarre said airily with a weak wave of her arm. “Ruby didn’t give me any trouble. You’re the only one that had a hard time dealing with a single fifteen year old, Roman.”

“Hey!” he barked. 

Neo made a breathy noise that might have been a laugh as she slipped into the room and walked around the couch. She patted Roman on the head until he growled at her and swatted her hand away. Her grin as she took a seat next to Akelarre and leaned out to place her head on the older girl’s lap was positively shit eating.

“What do you guys know about the professors of Beacon? Are they strong, important?” she asked while bringing up one arm to run her fingers through Neo’s bicolour hair. “I know they work for Ozma.”

“It’s Ozpin, actually, and not really. They’re strong, sure. All retired huntsmen and good ones besides, but they don’t exactly have political positions. Still, you know how kids collect cards of famous hunters?”

“They have cards?”

Roman sighed. “Right, sometimes I forget you’re basically the demon Princess of some deserted island. Some folks have hunter cards. Kids like them. They have little battles with dice and stuff. It’s adorable.”

Neo raised both hands and made some complicated gestures in the air.

“I’m not just mentioning them because I have one!” Roman said. “Anyway. They’re well connected, but they’re small fry. And if they’re giving you trouble, you only need to wait for school hours to do what you want. Why’re you asking?”

“So they’re just connected to the headmaster then?” she asked.

“They’re professors. He runs the school. Do I have to... I have to explain school to you, don’t I? Do you even know how to read?”

Akelarre rolled her eyes. “I know how schools work.” She sighed and patted Neo’s head. “I think we’re going to have to step up our plans. By a lot.”

“What’s that mean?” he asked. 

“It means that I need you to talk to Junior. Tell him that the Knights are probably going to fold or fall within the week and that he’s going to need to get ready to fill the hole they leave behind. Unless the professors show up again.”

“That’s unlikely,” he said with a nonchalant wave. “School starts tomorrow.”

Akelarre perked up. “Then tonight is perfect.” She wiggled her hips to get Neo to lift her head. “I’m heading out,” she declared. “I’m tired of being all mopey and bored. I said I would take over this city’s underworld and I’ll do it. If Ozma wants to escalate, then I’ll just out-escalate him.”

Neo huffed but shifted and got to her feet. She pointed at herselt with a thumb, then pointed at Akelarre. 

“You want to come with?” she asked.

Neo nodded, though she did look rather exasperated.

“You know, it’s mostly just going to be me scaring a lot of bad people until they're afraid to breathe without my permission, then using that fear to ensure that they....actually, I think it’s exactly the kind of thing you’d enjoy.”

Roman too, stood. “I’m getting a drink,” he said. “I think we’ll all need one by the end of the night.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Five

John Wickerbasket paused by the door, fixed his jacket so that his shoulders looked appropriately wide, and moved the belt of his sword so that it sat just a bit forward of his hip. Because making sure the girls saw his sword as soon as he walked in always made spending the night showing them his other equipment a whole lot easier.

With a shove, he rammed the front door aside and took two quick steps into the room.

Two dozen eyes turned his way and more than one gun was pulled from a holster. “Hello, boys!” he said, teeth all on display as he took in the crowd. He ran his tongue across his lips. “Guess who’s back?”

A few calls of ‘hey’ and ‘Johnny!’ greeted him, warming his heart while guns were lowered and swords returned to their sheaths. 

He loved his squires and this was why, they might not have much, but they were the nicest bastards in the shitty end of Vale. Grinning from ear to ear, he ran his hand through his fresh bowl cut and swaggered over to the bar at the far end.

Their little bar had been a factory once, but they had built a wall through the middle of it, brought in some tables from here and there, added a counter to the far end and someone found a van full of brand new couches just rolling down the street one day and donated it to the gang. It was a proper stomping ground for any knight, but especially the Caws. 

“What’s the shit?” he asked as he sidled up to the busiest section of the bar, sidestepped a couple of boys and hopped onto the bar, sitting with both feet dangling off the side.

“Hey, Wicker,” Twitch said. He lifted a little baggy filled to the brim with some yellow power. It smelled like fart. “Got some Buzz.”

“Twitch,” John said. “Who’d you buy that from?”

“He got it from Blue,” one of the girls said. 

“Oh, Twitch, that’s not proper Buzz. Everyone knows he laces that stuff with, like, sulfur or something instead of lightning dust. It’s gonna have you shitting out your liver.”

Twitch looked sheepish, but he shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, but it’ll make your world go wonky, you know?”

John shook his head. If he was going to get a hit he’d wait for some of the better stuff. “Did we get the stuff for the Dagers?” he asked.

Twitch’s head moved up and down like a bobble head that had just been flicked. “Oh yeah, yeah, it’s all in the back. Like, two whole crates of Fire dust grenades. Hunter grade. Good shit.”

“All right,” he said with a nod. “Wait, they didn’t pick it up yet?” 

“Supposed to, but they’re late. Probably too fucked to drive straight, you know?” Twitch said.

John shrugged one shoulder. It didn’t matter in the end, they’d get the gear to their brother gang and they’d get some raw materials in return, then those would be turned into more shit that they could sell to buy more gear that they would trade again. It was like a circle, with every pass making the Knights just a bit stronger. 

He was reaching backwards over the bar for a bottle when the lights clunked shut. 

The room filled with shouts and screams of distress, but plenty of light was pouring in from the street lights outside, enough that they could see, and a couple of the less buzzed members pulled out their scrolls and flicked on their torch function. 

Beams of light scoured across the room, flashing past wide-eyed faces and some of the smarter guys who were pulling out guns and knives, getting ready for a fight.

“Y’all calm down!” John shouted. “Just the lights. Twitch, get in the back, check on the breakers. You,” he said while pointing to one guy that had two handguns out. “Go with him.” The man nodded and jogged after Twitch who was stumbling towards the backroom. “The rest of you idiots calm down. Ain’t gonna get anything from freaking out.”

“He’s right,” said a voice, a buzzing, barely coherent things that carried a sibilant hiss that made shivers run down his spine. “Now, if you would be so kind as to drop your weapons and line up, I’m certain we can work this out painlessly.”

“Fuck that.”

Then the ceiling, which had turned into a living, crawling tapestry of chitin and squirming insects, dropped.

***

Akelarre sighed and shook her head. Her Grimmsects were having far too much fun swarming the gangsters inside the factory, their simplistic minds overjoyed at all the screaming and panicked flailing. But they were doing a good job all on their own, so she turned her focus elsewhere.

Neo was sitting in the driver’s seat of their little car, bootless feet on the dash where her brown and pink socks wiggled like a caught worm. She was reading a magazine, the very image of bored relaxation. “What are you reading?” she asked.

Neo looked up at her, then scooted to the side a little so that Akelarre could see the colourful pages filled with images of women in pretty dresses. 

“Oh, that one’s cute,” she said, pointing to a nice summer dress while in the back of her mind she coordinated a flight of Lancers to pin down one particularly twitchy young man.

Neo nodded, then pointed to the dress and at Akelarre.

“Hmm, no, I find dresses cute but they just really don’t suit me,” she said.

Neo shrugged and turned the page. Her eyes lit up and she pointed at a black dress covered in fine lace. It looked like something very old, but cut in a more modern style. She jabbed a thumb at herself.

“Oh yeah, that would look nice on you,” Akelarre agreed. “But black isn’t your colour.”

Inside the factory one of the gangsters had snuck into the back and returned with an armful of what looked an awful lot like grenades. He started flinging them towards the ceiling with reckless abandon. She shook her head and hoped that they weren’t fragmentation grenades or else then man had just effectively killed a lot of his friends. 

The grenades burst into great balls of spreading, sticky fire. She lost quite a few Grimmsects.

“Maybe the same thing in white? Though it would get dirty really fast. Oh, how about like a swirly brown and pink? Like your hair?”

Neo tilted her head to one side as if imagining what that would look like then nodded. The image on the magazine shifted and changed colours as Akelarre had described them. It didn’t look that good. 

“Hrm, maybe not then.” She tapped her lips with an index. “My mom made me try on so many dresses. You wouldn’t believe it. I don’t think she has ever thrown away a single piece of clothing.”

Neo looked at her, one eyebrow perked as if to say ‘so what.’

“She’s like, six thousand years old. That’s a lot of dresses.”

Neo blinked. 

Inside the factory, the screaming was dying down, though the ceiling was still on fire. 

The last gangster tossed her gun down and fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she was shoved down by one leg of a mantis Grimm that had to weigh twice as much as she did. 

“Oh, my pretties are done now,” she said as she unbuckled herself and opened the door. “Did you want to come?”

Neo folded her magazine and placed it between the two seats, then she showed off her flexibility by putting on her boots while still stuck behind the wheel.

Akelarre didn’t mind waiting a minute for Neo to get ready. She had all night. Or at least until the fire grew too big and the roof collapsed.

“So I was thinking,” she began once Neo joined her. Inside the factory, her bigger Grimmsects--or those that were big, but not so big that they couldn’t sneak into the room--were herding all the bad guys into a line near the bar. “I can do this two ways. I can go in there and be all Cinder-y. Like, intimidate them and scare them until they know better than to betray me. Or, I can try and be nice to them. I don’t know why, exactly, but when you have the big stick and are nice to people it makes them act really weird.”

Neo gave this some thought, then lifted two fingers. 

“Okay. Nice Princess it is.”

One of her Grimm opened the door for her, and she stepped in with Neo right on her heels. A dozen eyes rose up to stare at her, most filled with suppressed terror, though a few were glazed and confused, the sort of look that she would associate with someone that wasn’t entirely there. 

“Hello everyone!” she said as she came to stand before the Knights. “My name is Akelarre, and I have something of a proposition for you.” she gave them her most winsome smile.

One of the people in the ground, a young man wearing a fur coat over a tanktop and jeans fought against the silken wrappings keeping his arms bound together. “Y-you bitch! You think we’re gonna do anything for you? Huh? We’re the Knights, we don’t answer--” A large insectile claw scythed down right in front of his face, stabbing several inches into the concrete floor with a note of finality. Suddenly feeling very self preservation-ey, he looked up into the many-faceted eyes of a Praying Mantis Grimm the size of a car and did not finish his sentence.

“That was very rude,” Akelarre said with the exact same tone she used to greet them. She had one of her larger Grimmsects pull a seat over from one end of the room towards her, the chair legs scraping against the ground loud enough that it drowned out all other noise in the factory. Patting the beatle Grimm on the head, she turned around and sat before the gangsters, then had a pretty moth that was more white fluff than anything flutter down to land on her lap while the beatle stood by her side. 

She started petting the moth between its wiggly little antenna while looking down at all the gang members. Above, the roof cackled as the fire grew. “Now, I would like to think that I’m a very fair woman. I believe in second chances and in people redeeming themselves.” She carefully lifted the moth to show it off to all the gangsters. “Like my pretty Grimmsects. They might be able to eat people alive, but that doesn’t mean that they’re all evil. They can be nice and playful and friendly while still being effective manhunters.”

A few members of her audience whimpered. 

“So, I decided that instead of just getting rid of the Knights I would offer all of you the opportunity to work for me.”

One of the gangsters, a thin young woman with eyes that twitched from Akelarre to Neo to the Grimm and back, twisted her arm around, freed herself from the webbing holding her in place, and brought her arm out towards Akelarre. She was holding a revolver. 

It was a rusty little thing, held together more by tape and happy thoughts then by any sort of maintenance and care. Still, Akelarre felt her eyes widening as the girl squeezed the trigger.

The beatle Grimm jumped forwards, wings deploying from out of its carapace just in time to give it the boost it needed to move in between Akelarre and the gun. 

The retort echoed through the room a half second before a clump of insects the size of a minivan fell onto the girl. 

Akelarre waited a few moments, her attention split between all the Grimmsects who wanted to bite, eat, and kill the girl and the gangsters who were backing away from their suicidal companion. 

She sighed and with a languid gesture of her wrist the swarm moved away from the girl, revealing a trussed up, web covered form writhing on the cement floor. Next to her, the Grimm beatle wheezed, falling to one side as thin plumes of black dust slipped out from between its carapace. 

Placing her moth Grimm on one shoulder to free her hands, Akelarre raised an open palm and allowed a Lancer to land on it, the revolver held tight in its six little limbs.

“Thank you,” she said before dismissing the wasp. She inspected the gun with a critical eye, aware that she had the room’s attention. “Dust, the great equalizer,” she said. “It can turn even the weakest person into someone strong, at least for a moment. But there are other paths to being great, aren’t there? Or maybe you guys don’t know. My problem is that I kind of want to get rid of all the criminals in Vale. That means all of you.”

One of them started crying.

She stood. “But like I said, I believe in second chances, and I know that getting rid of crime is easier said than done. So if I can’t get rid of it, then I might as well control it, yeah?” She flashed them all a smile. “That’s why I want all of you to work for me. Well, me and Neo and Junior, I suppose. I have all sorts of things to take care of, after all.”

Neo waved at them, her own smile less pleasant and more hungry.

“See, you guys are still useful, even if you’re not as strong as my babies.” She placed a hand atop the head of the beetle that had moved to save her. It was weakening, she could feel it. For all that her Grimmsects were strong, they were also much smaller than normal Grimm, and when they took injuries it showed. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Lowering the revolver, she placed it behind the beetle's head and fired.

Everyone but her flinched as the Grimm fell forwards and started to dissolve into motes of dust. “I love my Grimm, but they are expendable in the end. I think you would all rather I didn’t think of you the same way.” She flicked open the revolver and let the empty casings and bullets clater to the floor before flinging the gun off to the far corner of the room. “I’m going to leave now,” she said. “Some time next week there’s going to be a meeting of all the local gang leaders. If you still want to live this sort of life then you’ll do it under my rule. If you don’t... well, you won’t last very long.”

She made sure that her last smile was big and bright and really cheerful so that they would all have a good impression of her. Then she had her swarm buzz around her, thick enough that their sight would be entirely obscured by the moving masses.

With a nod of her head, she motioned for Neo to follow her back out of the building while some of her smaller Grimm took apart and weakened the bindings on her captives. 

As they climbed back into the car, Akelarre made a mental tally of all the Grimmsects and normal bugs she had left and came to a rather grim realisation. She had lost nearly one in twenty. Most to fire Dust grenades, a few more died while securing the gangsters and others were lost in the swarm. 

“I’m going to need more bugs.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Urgh,” Ruby said as she flopped back onto Weiss’ bed. She was so tired. No one had told her that learning was going to take so much energy, or that she’d have to bear all the responsibility of leading a whole team of huntresses on top of everything else.

“Get off my bed!” Weiss shrieked.

Ruby rolled over, pulling the covers over her head as she did and undoing the perfect smooth surface of the bed all in one motion. She really shouldn’t have been complaining, she got to go to Beacon early. Who else got to say something like that?

“You’re ruining my sheets,” Weiss said. “And you didn’t even shower first. You’re probably all dirty!”

“Hehe, I bet you’re proud, Weiss-cream, something dirty finally happened in your bed, if you know what I mean.”

Ruby groaned, reached out to grab Weiss’ pillow, and stuffed it over her face.

“My pillow!”

She could still hear Yang’s laughter through the soft, soft fluff of the pillow, but at least it was a distant thing. Then some horrible creature tore the pillow away and left Ruby blinking up at the bottom of her own bed. “Why?” she asked, her voice small and lost like a wet kitten. A sad kitten. A kitten that just wanted to take a nap.

“Don’t touch my pillows,” Weiss said.

“I don’t think I’d call them pillows,” Yang said from where she was leaning against the frame of her bunkbed. “More like a washboard.”

Weiss’ pillow went ‘fwoomp’ when it rammed Yang in the face.

Ruby placed her arm over her face to hide from the inevitable backlash.

“Could have stayed in the camp,” Blake was muttering. “Just me, and my books, and none of this. No Schnees, no Yangs. Just me, Ninjas of Love, and a nice warm sleeping bag.”

“Alright, alright, I give!” Yang shouted above Weiss’ tirade about her lack of culture. She was grinning, but had both hands raised in surrender. “And you don’t need to lose your mind, princess, I’m heading out anyway. You won’t see me for hours.”

Ruby sat up. “Wait, you’re leaving?” she asked.

“Ah, yeah,” Yang said, and was that a touch of red on her cheeks that Ruby saw? “I’ve got, um, work.”

Ruby blinked slowly. “You have a job? Someone hired you? On purpose?!” Her incredulity rose with every new sentence and so did the indignation on her sister’s face.

“Yeah, I got a job. I’m hirable,” Yang said before she crossed her arms and looked off to the side. “Anyway, I need to head out to Vale. It’s Friday, so I’ll be out late.”

Ruby hopped off Weiss’ bed and placed both hands on her hips. “I’m coming with you,” she declared.

“What?” Yang squawked. “N-no no, I don’t need my little sister to escort me to work,” she said.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Not to your job, I’m going to Vale,” she said. “I need to go to The Club.”

Yang’s face went from pale to red and right back to pale again all in the time it took for Ruby to blink twice. “Ruby, why are you going to a c-club? The Club isn’t a place for you. Especially not on Friday nights. They have dancers on Friday night,” Yang said.

“How do you know that?” Blake asked.

“Shut up Blake!” Yang shot back.

“As much as I despair of participating in your debauchery,” Weiss said. “I would like to visit Vale. I hardly got to explore the city from my hotel room.”

Blake made a noncommittal noise. “I heard there are a couple of bookstores that are decent. Might as well tag along. You two know the city better than I do, I’m sure.”

Ruby felt a smile tugging at her lips and she clapped her hands. “Perfect! It’ll be a group trip! Go team RWBY!”

“Oh god, no,” Yang whispered, but it was drowned out by Ruby’s cheering and Weiss’ complaining.

***

“Ugh,” Velvet said as she crashed back-first on her bed. She spread her arms and legs out as if she was the most comfortable piece of roadkill on the continent, then let out a small sigh.

“Are you tired, Bun?” Coco asked.

Velvet felt her forehead creasing and her mouth moving into a pout. She stopped it in time, but still rolled onto her side, back towards Coco’s voice.

Coco sighed. “Come on Velvet,” she said. “Please?” She didn’t say what she was asking for, but it was obvious to everyone in the room.

“Will you apologise?” Velvet asked. She didn’t want to sound so petulant, but it wasn’t her who had betrayed a friendship.

“For keeping you safe? Never,” Coco said.

Velvet rolled over then swung her legs off the side of the bed so that she was sitting and facing Coco. There were circles under Coco’s eyes and for all her bluster she was missing that spark, that fire that made her who she was. “That’s not what you should be saying sorry for, and you know it,” Velvet said, but her voice softened as she realised how mean she was sounding. “It’s just that... you betrayed me, Coco, I thought we could do better and...” She swallowed. Speaking from the heart had never been her strong suit.

Coco looked away too. “Yeah, well I thought I was doing the right thing too.”

Velvet came to her feet with a single bouncing motion. It was too much, being in the same room as a moping Coco, the air stank of bad feelings and neither partner was willing to meet each others eyes. “I’m going for a walk,” she announced.

Coco looked up, but nodded.

She didn’t see Velvet’s hug coming and squawked for a moment before realisation hit her and she melted into the embrasse. “I still love you, Coco. You’re my best friend,” Velvet said.

She felt Coco nodding and her arms tightened around Velvet’s waist. “Yeah. Me too.”

Smiling a little, Velvet pulled back and nodded once. “Right, I’ll be back.” She waved to the boys and both of them waved back, Yatsu wearing a knowing smile and Fox looking just a shade bewildered.

“Stay safe,” Yatsu called after her as she slid out of the dorm room.

The moment the door was closed behind her Velvet felt herself slumping down. It was almost a relief to be out of there, and yet guilt churned in her stomach. There was more she could have done to repair the gap, to fix the break in their relationship, but she always hesitated before doing it, a mixture of fear and lingering anger keeping her back.

But she did love her teammates, and she knew that things would get better, eventually. Resolve hardening, Velvet started walking down the corridor, letting her feet carry her wherever they would. Maybe she would stop by the cafeteria and grab something to drink.

The problem was a bit too big, sometimes to just tackle in a day. Coco had, basically, arranged an ambush on someone Velvet considered a... friend. Even if Coco did it for what she thought were good reasons, Velvet couldn’t look past the sight of Akelarre’s disappointed face the moment before the walls exploded and she was attacked.

That Akelarre seemed ready for an ambush meant... well she didn’t know what it meant, but it still ate at her.

She was crossing one of Beacon’s flower-lined courtyards when she saw a team of younger students walking by, just four girls in colourful uniforms bickering and arguing as any team would. She would have ignored them and kept on her way, but a snatch of conversation had her ears perking up.

“But Yang,” the shortest girl in the group said. “Akelarre stays there too, and she would let me in.”

“Ruby,” a white-haired girl next to the short one said. “You can’t just enter a bar. You’re too young. For that matter, so are the rest of us. It’s hardly the kind of place you’d expect respectable people to go.”

“Yang is going,” Ruby pointed out.

“Exactly.”

Velvet hesitated for just a moment before she spun around and started following the team. “Um, sorry,” she called out to them as they moved from the courtyard and into one of the corridors leading to the bullhead docks.

Four pairs of eyes turned to her and Velvet found herself suddenly nervous. She tried to speak, but the words caught in her throat. “Can we help?” the black haired one asked, she tilted her head to one side, bow sticking out of the top like the centrepiece of a cake.

“M-maybe?” Velvet said. She pressed her fingertips together and focused on her shoes. “Were you guys talking about Akelarre?”

Two of the four girls flinched at the name, but only one of them teleported to an inch in front of Velvet and grabbed her hands. Wide silver eyes stared up at her as if they could see through her soul. “You know Akelarre?”

“I, yes?” Velvet said.

“Tall, kind of pale?” the girl asked as if to be sure.

Velvet nodded. “Yes. We met in Patch a few months ago. She, um, has an interest in bugs.”

“You do know her!” Ruby said. “That’s so cool. How did you meet? We’re going to go see her now, did you want to come?”

“Ruby!” the blonde said. “We don't even know if she’ll be there. You can’ just go inviting people to come.”

“I-I would love to,” Velvet said, a queasy smile crawling onto her face at all the attention directed her way. “If you guys wouldn’t mind, of course.”

“The more the merrier, I suppose,” the white one said. “I’m Weiss Schnee, these two are Yang Xiao-Long and Ruby Rose, and the quiet one here is Blake Belladonna.”

Blake waved at Velvet. “Hey.”

“Uh, hi,” Velvet said. Then she remembered her manners and bowed quickly. “I’m Velvet, Velvet Scarlatina. I’m a second year here at Beacon.”

“You’re our senior?” Ruby asked. “That’s extra cool. Come on, you need to tell us all the tricks so that we won’t have to do as much homework. Can we see your notes from last year? How did you meet Akelarre anyway?”

“Ahh.” Velvet allowed herself to be dragged forwards by Ruby where the girl still had a firm grip on her hand. “M-maybe only one question at a time?”

***

Ruby bounced ahead of the group because as long as she kept moving ahead and focusing on the things that made her happy, then there was no way the things that made her nervous could catch up. At least, that’s what her mom had told her a long time ago, and she believed it still. It was why her semblance was the coolest ever, it allowed her to speed past all the bad things in life.

One day Ruby would grow tall, and strong, and faster, and then she’d show her dad that you could outrun taxes.

Behind her, Weiss was being pouty about not being in charge and was complaining to whomever would listen that the area was dirty and nasty and that they would probably get sick if they stayed here any longer. Behind her, Blake and Velvet were talking amicably. She wouldn’t have expected Blake, who was such a shy and timid girl, to strike up a friendship with Velvet, but maybe they had a lot in common.

And Yang was at the rear.

That... was probably not a good thing, Ruby reasonsed. She knew her sister very well. She knew her sister too well, even, and when Yang Xiao-Long was being quiet it was because something was horribly, horribly wrong.

At least Yang hadn’t pulled out her phone to snitch to dad or Uncle Qrow, so maybe everything was okay? Or maybe Yang was just nervous about her new job. The job she hadn’t told her own sister about.

“Yang!” she called over her shoulder. “Where is it?”

“It’s just around the corner,” Yang shouted back.

Ruby rushed ahead a little, ignoring Weiss’ pleas for her to slow down and act her age (she was totally acting her age, Weiss was the one who was trying to be old) until she could hear the booming retort of a bass ahead.

The Club wasn’t easy to spot. The building looked like any other on the street, a bit dilapidated, a bit rough around the edges. The line of people out front, on the other hand, was super easy to find. It stretched out across half the block, a sea of younger people in clothes so bright they rivalled the average hunter team.

She was standing there, oohing and ahhing to herself when the other members of team RWBY and Velvet caught up. “So, that’s the place?” Weiss said, the sneer evident in her tone. “This is where your friend hangs out?”

“Yup,” Ruby said. “It’s going to take forever to get in, though.”

“I might be able to get us in,” Yang said. “Seeing as how I kind of sort of work here.”

Ruby stared at Yang, aware that all the others were doing the same. “You work here?”

“Well, not yet?” She laughed, but it sounded hollow. “A-anyway, follow me.”

The others all shared a look, but did as she asked, crossing the street and beelining right for the front door where Yang was waving a one of the guards. He eyed her suspiciously until she pulled a piece of paper from out of her shorts and handed it over. “Alright, you can come in, but your little posse has to get in line like the rest,” he said.

“But I wanted to see Akelarre,” Ruby said.

The bouncers all froze for a moment. “Do, do you have an appointment, miss?” one asked.

Ruby blinked. “Yes,” she lied. “I totally do.”

The sound the people in line made as the complained was music to Ruby’s ears. The bouncer held up a red cord that had been blocking their path and ushered them into the music filled world of The Club.

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Neo’s feet kicked against the bar with a thump-a-thump-a beat that was just a sliver off from the bass thrumming in the background. She knew, because the guy standing behind the bar’s eyebrow was twitching wildly every time he finished serving a client and looked her way.

She smiled at him, the expression like a knife between the fourth and fifth ribs.

This was nice, spending some time on her own, enjoying a float that was more ice cream than soda and that came with a really long straw while waiting for some unsuspecting brat to come bother her so that she had the excuse to beat them to a pulp. The look on the frat-boy sort when she was done knocking their teeth out and the bouncers showed up was always so fun, especially that sudden confusion when they were the ones hoisted out of The Club.

“Um, excuse me,” said a voice that was far too soft.

Neo took a long slurp from her drink and spun on her stool, nice and slowly, like a villain in a movie, so that she came face to chest with the woman behind her.

She blinked, then looked at the girl up and down to be sure.

It was Bunny Girl, and she was with blond bimbo and... three others that Neo didn’t know.

“H-hi, Neo,” Bunny Girl said. “It’s me, um, Velvet.”

Neo nodded.

“I was wondering if--maybe--you had seen...” Bunny Girl leaned forwards to no effect, her costume was too tight in all the wrong places for the gesture to provide a view. “I was wondering if Akelarre was here?” she whispered.

Neo tilted her head to one side and then wondered how to answer. Akelarre was, in fact, around. She was just upstairs talking to Roman and Junior about serious stuff. Stuff that didn’t matter, like setting up a tax system for the underground and redistributing territory and manpower and all those other boring details.

She made a ‘wait a minute’ gesture, whipped out her Scroll and shot off a text to Akelarre.

Neo: o.o !  
Akelarre: What’s wrong?  
Neo:   
(\\_/)  
(o.o)  
(___)0  
Akelarre: Velvet?   
Neo: :)  
Akelarre: Oh, that’s nice. Is she here?  
Neo: :eek:  
Akelarre: Okay, I’ll be down in a moment.

Her duty completed, Neo slid her phone back into its place and gestured at the stools next to her. She was about to turn around and focus on her drink again when the short red one slid up to her. “Are you Akelarre’s friend? I am too. My name is Ruby, and this is my team. That’s Weiss, Blake, and that’s my sister Yang.”

The name rang a bell, and it wasn’t until the girl gave Neo the must insufferably innocent smile that she put two and two together and got ‘cheating little shit’. She narrowed her eyes at the girl.

“Are you really close with Akelarre?” Ruby asked while making huge expansive gestures. “That’s so cool!” She squealed. Actually squealed, and for a moment the cold black pit that was Neo’s heart quivered in her chest. “Oh, do you want to meet Crescent Rose? I built her, but Akelarre helped a little.” From behind her back and above her frankly adorable poofy dress she pulled out a box that Neo recognized as some sort of Mechashit thing.

Then it unfolded into a scythe that was longer than Neo was tall. A lot longer. “Mistress!” the weapon said. “This building looks like a fire hazard. Loading Burn Dust rounds!”

Neo could see what Akelarre saw in the girl. She patted the stool next to her, inviting Ruby to the seat of honour before turning around to face the bartender and gestured at him.

The man looked at the young women next to her, then up at the sign above the bar saying that patrons had to be older than eighteen, then he looked back down at Neo and started pouring some drinks.

“Ruby,” White said with the sort of exasperation Neo was used to hearing from Roman when she accidentally killed a target, burned down their house, and stole all their stuff, on accident. “You can’t just bring out your... toy like that in broad daylight. Try to think of what others will think if they see you acting so immature!”

“Mistress, this heathen is mocking you. Set as priority target?”

White glared at the scythe while Blackbow just sighed and slid into the next seat over. Bunny Girl hesitated for a moment, then plopped herself down on Neo’s other side. Ruby had the decency to shush her murder toy before folding it back up.

“Um,” Bunny Girl began, and if she wasn’t so cute Neo might have been annoyed by her little shy girl act. “Did you notice if Akelarre was, angry, recently?”

Neo thought back to the last few nights, nights spent dismantling entire groups using metric tons of angry, screaming bugs, lots of fire, and the occasional death threat. She shook her head, spoon waving from side to side where it was caught between her lips.

Bunny Girl sighed. “Oh, good.”

“Hey, blondie.”

The five girls and Neo turned towards the huge slab of man that was Junior as he strutted over to them, then stood above the blond girl and eyed her from above. “You’re almost late, and why aren’t you in your costume?”

“Aww, boss,” Blondie said. “Can’t we, you know, get a raincheck on tonight’s, um, activities?”

White snorted. “Typical. Your first day and you’re already shirking your responsibilities.”

Junior’s grin was feral. “You should listen to your friend, Blondie. Show's starting in ten. Get to it.” He jerked his thumb towards the door leading into the backroom, then walked past her onto to pause by Neo’s side. “Is everything to your liking, Miss Neo?” he asked.

Neo nodded, gesturing at her drink which was mostly gone, then gave him a thumbs up.

“Good, glad you like it. I had to install a soft serve machine just for you. Oh, and the boss lady is coming down in a minute,” he said before moving on. “Enjoy your evening girls.”

Neo looked at blondie, one eyebrow perked. The girl crossed her arms, huffed, then with a quick glance at her friends she seemed to decide that she had better things to do and stomped off towards the back.

“She’s not going to last very long with that sort of attitude,” White said.

“Yang’s probably just a little worried,” Ruby said. “It’s her first job.” She reached for the cup the bartender had placed before her and took a sip before her entire face scrunched up. “Ew, ew, this is gross,” she said. “It tastes like Uncle Qrow’s juice.”

White and Blackbow both took their cups and sniffed them, Blackbow going so far as to take a sip. “It’s beer,” Blackbow told Ruby. She took another sip and spun on her stool to watch the crowds.

White made a disgusted little sound and replaced her cup on the counter. “I’d prefer some nice fruit wine,” she said, sounding just as prissy as she looked. Neo wondered if she would fit in White’s dress and if she could steal it before the night was over. “Don’t drink that Ruby, I wouldn’t want to explain to Yang or, gods forbid, Goodwitch, why you came back to the dormitory drunk.”

“I think we would all prefer it if Ruby stayed sober,” a smooth voice said from off to one side. Neo had to lean back and look up to catch Akelarre’s eye as she walked over to them, cloak billowing out behind her like the sexy cape of a sexy supervillain. She licked her lips to the taste of vanilla ice cream.

“Akelarre,” Velvet and Ruby said at the same time, though with two entirely different tones.

Ruby hopped out of her seat and tackled the taller girl in a quick hug before letting go to reveal red cheeks and a sweet grin. “I got into Beacon!” she said.

Akelarre placed a hand on Ruby’s head, then gently rearranged the girl’s red locks. “Really? Congratulations. I thought you had to be a bit older to enter?”

“Yup, but I’m so awesome they let me in early.”

Akelarre’s smile was soft as she continued to pat Ruby on the head he way Neo might pat a dog. “Well done. And who are your friends? Velvet I already know, of course.”

“Uh, hello, Akelarre,” the bunny girl said before her ears drooped down and she sunk in on herself. “I, I wanted to talk, if you had the time.”

“Sure, we can talk whenever you want. I have a room upstairs if you want some privacy,” Akelarre said. Velvet nodded so fast her ears flopped around. Akelarre let out a chuckle before turning to the other girls. “Hello, I’m Princess Akelarre, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Yes!” Ruby said before zipping back to her friends. “This is Blake Belladonna, my friend, and this is Weiss Schnee. She’s my friend and my partner.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you... Princess,” Weiss said.

Next to her, the black-haired girl, Blake, was going so pale she would soon look like someone had left her outside in mid-winter, her eyes were bugging out with the kind of expression Neo had started to label as the ‘I’ve met Akelarre’ face.

Akelarre noticed almost immediately, eyes narrowing before she smiled at Blake. “Are you the Blake that was at that camp a while or so ago?” she asked.

Blake made a noise that could have meant anything.

Akelarre took pity on the girl and reached out to pat her head. Blake sunk under the patting. “Don’t worry. Any friend of Ruby’s is a friend of mine. And anyway, aren’t we cousins?”

Ruby blinked slowly and so did Neo. She eyed the Blake girl up and down but couldn’t see any noticeable Grimm-like traits to her. Maybe the bow was hiding horns?

“You’re related to Blake?” Ruby asked.

“Not by blood,” Akelarre clarified. “It’s common courtesy that any princess call another princess cousin, even if none are actually related. It’s a very old tradition.”

“Blake is a princess?!” Ruby said. She spun towards the black-haired girl, eyes shining with awe. “Why didn’t you tell us? Were you hiding it?”

“Um,” Blake said.

“Ah, forgive me,” Akelarre said before bowing towards Blake. “I didn’t know you were undercover. You weren’t masking your appearance, so I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

“What.” Weiss’ voice was flat.

“It’s... okay?” Blake said.

“Okay, time out,” Weiss said. She pointed a finger at Akelarre’s chest. “Who are you.” Her hand moved over to Blake. “Princess of what?”

Blake swallowed under her teammate's looks, then looked off to the side. “I’m not a princess. My dad’s just the high chieftain.”

“The high chieftain of an entire county,” Akelarre pointed out. “Which is a crown short of being king.”

“You’re... you’re one of those Belladonna?” Weiss said. Then she started staring at Blake’s bow and she paled.

“I... yes.” Blake said, her back straightening as she glared down at the smaller white-haired girl. “I’m one of those Belladonna.” She turned narrowed eyes onto Akelarre. “And you’re a Grimm,” she spat the last word.

Akelarre shrugged one shoulder. “I am.”

Weiss, who was already pale, went even whiter. “That’s not possible. There aren’t any intelligent Grimm.”

“Of course there are. I’m one of them. Besides, if there weren’t intelligent Grimm like me, then there wouldn’t be any humans left, now would there.”

Blake, whose hands were balled into fists by her sides, looked ready to jump Akelarre. Neo sat back a little. She didn’t want to get hit by a stray blow while watching the girl get trampled.

Neo gestured at the bartender to bring her another float. If there was going to be a catfight, literal or otherwise, she wanted to have a drink before it started. It was hard to order a drink when the bartenders were all running away from angry huntresses in her experience. “You’re... you’re Grimm. We should be fighting you.”

“Because of what I am?” Akelarre asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“Well that’s rather racist. And anyway, no fighting in the Club. You don’t want to end up like Yang.”

“Huh?” Ruby asked.

The music in the room changed, the current technobeat dying down, but the bass thrum continuing the background. In the DJ booth, the bear-headed maestro brought a microphone to his costume’s mouth and shouted into it towards the crowd of dancers. “Everyone say hello to... Blooondiiiee!”

Blondie stepped out onto the stage wearing nearly a whole quarter of an outfit. Her movements were lithe and graceful, then the blonde saw her sister and friends and her next steps onto the stage turned janky and robotic.

Neo saw Ruby’s jaw drop and stay there for several seconds as she stared at her sister... dancing. When she turned around Ruby’s face was set in the most serious expression Neo had ever seen, she regarded Blake and Wiess for a long moment, then spoke, her voice flat and even. “Guys? You can't tell our Dad about this. Ever. That’s an order.”

Akelarre placed a hand on Ruby’s shoulder in a show of solidarity while on stage the blonde shook what her mother gave her.

Neo sipper her drink, enjoying the show while Weiss picked up her beer and downed it in one swallow. Then she did the same to Ruby’s.

“Well, it was fun meeting all of you again,” Akelarre said. “But Velvet wanted to talk, so I hope you don’t mind if I’m gone for a few minutes? Bye cousin, bye Weiss, bye Ruby.”

The three reactions were as different as they could be, from red-faced apoplectic anger, to pale, bloodless fear mingled with confusion, to cheerfulness that was only tempered by curiosity of what was happening on-stage.

With a few distracted good-byes, Akelarre moved towards the side and nodded her head towards the back. Velvet, who was busy being a quiet little bunny girl, nodded and followed after her.

***

Velvet looked around the VIP room, but didn’t catch anything that might serve as a distraction, just two couches and a chair and some tables.

Akelarre sat herself down on one of the couches, then gestured at the other. “Did you want to sit? You look a little nervous.”

“I, I am,” she admitted. Instead of sitting though she paced. She had a lot of energy to work off. “I wanted to say sorry,” she began.

“Because of what happened the other night?” Akelarre asked.

“Yes. Coco... Coco is nice, she really is, but things are just so complicated now and it doesn’t feel the same anymore. I still love her. She’s still my best friend, but...”

“But you don’t approve of what she did?” Akelarre’s voice was soft, far softer than Velvet had ever heard.

She nodded. “Yeah. It wasn’t fair that she attack you like that the first time, then she called the Professors and, and that was just mean.”

“And what about you?” Akelarre asked. At her blank look she continued. “What do you want to do about it?”

Velvet’s hands wrung together. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

Akelarre hummed for a moment, eyes looking off into the distance before they refocused on her. “Hey, Velvet, do you know how to pilot a Bullhead?”

“Um. Yes?” she said. She wasn’t terribly good at it, and she didn’t have much more than the courses at Beacon under her belt, but she knew how.

“Then how would you like to go on a little vacation. Just two days. It’ll be fun.”

***

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	31. Chapter 31

Bonus Chapter: Noir

Author’s note: Clearly the direction this story has been going in was unwholesome and wrong.

From now on Princess is no longer a happy romp through Remnant told via the perspective of various colourful characters. It’s now a Noir story told in first person by a grim, dark and edgy detective.

Deal with it.

***

[Recording Mode - Self-Analysis. - Prototype: Detective... Active.]

I had one hand up, holding the bridge of my fedora in place as my jogging steps brought me closer to my destination.

Even here in the middle of Vale the sea breeze reached out. There was salt in the air, and the unwary risked losing their hats to a passing gale.

Head tilted forwards, I let the waning sun cast long shadows over eyes that saw more than any mere humans could. This was a nice place. Warmer than back home, though with that same tang of Burn Dust in the air from passing cabs. Smoke from the industrial sector a few streets over choked the air like the tang of cigarette smoke from the listless teens loitering at every street corner.

A nice place, if you didn’t have a sense of smell.

The police officers on the steps of the VPD headquarters moved out of my path, wise enough to sense that I was dangerous, that I was not to be trifled with. I caught one man’s curious gaze, and gave him a firm nod when he was able to hold mine without blinking.

Maybe the coppers in Vale weren’t so bad after all. They certainly didn’t measure up to those back home, not if they needed to bring me in for one case.

A big case, sure, probably, no, definitely the biggest in my career as a detective, but still. Didn’t Vale have any pride in their own boys in blue?

Gloved hands slid out of the pockets of my long canvas trench-coat and pushed the double doors of the old building aside. I stood there, coat pooling around my legs, hat tilting back as I raised my head and scanned the lobby with narrowed eyes

A pretty dame behind a waist-high counter caught my attention, just a gal doing her job, but cute for all that. Still, I wasn’t here on any sort of vacation, this was work. “I’m here for Chief Blue,” I told her as I came close, my raspy voice twisted by the stem of the pipe hanging by the edge of my mouth.

The gal blinked dumbly, taking in the stranger in the station’s entrance for a few long seconds before turning towards her computer screen. “Did you have an appointment, ma’am?” she asked me.

I snorted. “I’m not paid enough for this,” I muttered just loud enough to be heard. “Yeah, I’ve got an appointment,” I said.

“Um, alright. Chief Blue’s office is on floor three, near the back,” the gal said, gesturing with a nod to the row of lifts to our side. The lobby area was only just big enough to allow a line to form next to the elevators.

“Thank, love,” I said before moving on, coat flapping out behind me like the ruined cape of the worst sort of hero.

Waiting in line wasn’t my forte, but at least it let me observe without standing out. I needed to see how things were done here in Vale, especially if they expected me to do things their way.

When I finally stepped off on the third floor it was to be assaulted by orderly chaos. The main room of the VPD headquarters was a bustling hive of activity, the boys and girls in blue rushing about, answering calls and only occasionally gathering by the water cooler off to one side to jaw with their peers.

I had to admit that I liked it. Chaotic it might have been, but there was something fresh about it, like a clear sky after the snow. Nodding to myself, I moved in, side stepping a couple of bearded men who were arguing over some sheets and waiting for a trolley full of papers to roll by.

The chief of police’s office was easy to find. A plaque hung by the door, bronze words held in a brass frame. The windows looking into the office were masked by blinds but I could see motion within.

I knocked, and the low hum of chatter from within the office ceased. The door creaked open and I found myself staring at a half dozen men crammed into what might have been a spacious office if there weren’t so many souls in it.

But what was one more?

I stepped in, nodding to the man that had opened the door for me even as he blinked back dumbly. Chief Blue had to be the older man behind the desk. Balding, past his prime, and with a gut that showed a serious need to lay off the pastries. “Who in the hells are you?” he asked.

I doffed my hat, red hair tumbling down to just above the nape of my neck. I knew I probably looked young to all the veterans in the room. If only they know. “I’m the envoy from Atlas,” I said even as my free hand reached into my coat and pulled out a crisp letter.

The police chief took it with a snap, opening the edge of the envelope with a swipe of a thumb. He read while the room warmed up and sweat started to pool on the foreheads of the men around me. I knew he had reached the end with his lips turned up and he scoffed. “Well, I won’t, and can't say no to more help. But this so called Grimm Girl is the last of our problems right now,” he said.

“Oh?” I asked.

He nodded, then eyed the others in the room as if deciding how much to spill. “Couple of gangs have been hit. Most of the sellers on the streets are nervous or missing. I’d usually be more than happy about that, but something’s fishy,” he said.

“Maybe it’s linked to my case,” I ventured. Maybe it was a clue!

“Doubt it,” he said. “Are you ready to start just like that, Detective, uh,” he started to lift the page again, but I stopped him with a dismissive gesture, replacing my hat as I did so. The fedora sat at a jaunty angle, the brim shading my eyes just like all the characters in the movies I studied.

“I’m P. Polendina. And I’m Detective ready!”

***


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Twenty-Eight

WARNING: Contains Long Distance Hugging and Trace Amounts of WHOLESOME. Read at your own risk.

If irregular cardiac pulminations appear contact your local medical professional. Do not take with alcohol or non-prescribed drugs without consulting your doctor. Do not read this content if you are at risk of becoming pregnant. If HNNG persists for more than four hours, contact your doctor immediately. For EXTERNAL use only.

***

Velvet realised that this was probably a bad idea about two minutes into the flight. In fact, she had a suspicion that it was a bad idea before she even boarded the bullhead next to Akelarre and started the take off procedures. 

But it was too late for her to turn around and fly back, they were already out of Vale and crossing the ocean between Vale and the Lands of Darkness to the East. There was a huge expanse of open ocean and churning waters all around them and absolutely nothing else. 

Well, other than the swarm of Grimmsects following their lone Bullhead.

The flight was mostly quiet, and even her uncertainty about her flying skills melted away as they shot across the ocean on a direct course for one of the most foreboding places on the planet.

“Oh look, a school of Leviathans,” Akelarre said as she leaned forward to look out the window. “I don’t like those. Something about them rubs me the wrong way.”

Velvet glanced down and saw the huge forms moving just under the turbulent waters. “We should pull up,” she said while putting actions to words and pulling back on the yoke. “I heard they can jump out of the water and catch low flying ships.”

Akelarre shrugged. “If she ship crashes we’ll probably be okay. And then we can ask the Leviathans to bring us to shore.”

Velvet levelled off their flight a moment later and said exactly nothing. She knew that Akelarre was weird, that she was a little different, but sometimes that difference in perspective was incredibly sharp. It was hard to remember that the Grimm, the monsters that everyone else in the world had to work around and against, were more likely to help Akelarre than harm her.

The flight was filled with a deep, gaping silence, one that Velvet wished she could fill, but the words to do so just weren’t coming, and Akelarre looked just as confused and awkward as she felt. 

Then Akelarre rang.

Blinking, the Grimm girl pulled a scroll from her pocket and thumbed the call accept before pressing on speakerphone to be heard over the low whine of the engines. “Hello?”

“Akelarre?” A familiar, young voice said over the line. “It’s Ruby.”

“Ruby! How are you?” Akelarre asked, her mood shifting from awkward boredom to the kind of giddiness that Velvet was used to seeing in Coco when there was good gossip going around.

“I’m... okay,” Ruby lied.

“What’s wrong, Ruby?” Akelarre leaned back into the copilot’s seat, phone resting on an open palm as she listened.

There was a long suffering sigh. “It’s my team. They’re being very... meh. Blake is afraid that you’ll come after her, even if I told her you wouldn’t, Weiss decided that you don’t exist and she’s been screaming at Yang all day as if it’s her fault that she has a hangover, and Yang is all pouty because we saw her at work. I think she’s just embarrassed but is taking it out on us.”

“That sounds awful,” Akelarre said. “I think you should get them all together, sit them down, and have a nice chat. You know, air everything out into the open? Even if you don’t all agree in the end at least you’ll know where you stand. And as for Weiss and Blake, I can probably visit you guys again and promise not to hurt them, if that makes them feel any better.”

“Urg,” Ruby said. Velvet had the impression that the young girl had just flopped backwards onto a bed. “I know, thanks. It’s just so much trouble. I kinda wish that I wasn’t team leader. It’s too much responsibility. But if it wasn’t me, then who else would try to take care of my team.”

“It sounds like you need a hug,” Akelarre said with genuine amusement. “Do you want one?”

Ruby paused. “Right now?”

“Yeah,” Akelarre said.

There was another pause, a longer one this time. “Did you hide a hug bug in my room?”

Akelarre giggled. “No, no, I don’t have hug bugs... yet. And I didn’t hide any Grimm in or around your room. Do you still want that hug?”

“I... how?”

“I was thinking I could describe it,” Akelarre said.

"...You know what? Go ahead."

“Okay, okay,” Akelarre said. “So, uh, I’d have to be close to you, because you can’t give hugs from far away.”

“Unless it’s over the Scroll,” Ruby said. 

Velvet held back a snort at the look of consternation that crossed Akelarre face. “Yeah, obviously. Anyway, so I’d have to be close. And it needs to be a real hug, not one of those with your butt sticking way out.”

Ruby giggled over the line. “That’s how Yang hugs Uncle Qrow.”

“We don’t want that. So, I think you’re still a bit shorter than me, so you would be the one who gets to tuck her head in, and I would put my chin on your head so that I can give you a chin noogie.”

“No!” Ruby gasped.

“Uh huh,” Akelarre said with a nod. “It’s only proper. But before that I’d have to wrap you up as hard as I can and pull you into my chest.”

“What chest?” Ruby asked with faux innocence.

“... You know, I can reconsider that whole ‘bugs in your room thing’ at any moment.”

“You wouldn’t!” Ruby said, and in the background there was a fump-fump sound like feet kicking against the surface of a bed. 

“I totally would,” Akelarre said. “As soon as I get back, I’m sending a swarm of hug bugs to invade your dorm. Anyway, we both have cloaks, so any hugging would be very coccony. And that just makes them even better, right?”

“Right.”

“Now, if I was a pervert like Neo, I’d probably end the hug by pinching your bum.”

“Akelarre!” Ruby shouted, all indignity and embarrassment. Even Velvet in the pilot’s seat felt her face warming up.

Akelarre giggled into her closed fist as Ruby went on a rant about how her Uncle and Dad were totally against any sort of bum pinching. 

“So, are you feeling better?” Akelarre asked.

“Hmpf,” was Ruby’s reply. “Well, yeah, I guess.”

“Good. So it was a successful hug.”

Ruby laughed. “The best hug I got all day.”

“I see, and have you been getting a lot of other hugs? Maybe from cute Beacon students?” Akelarre asked.

“Don-- be sill-” Ruby said.

“Oh no, you’re breaking up,” Akelarre said. “Ruby, I have to let you go, but I’ll call you when we’re close enough to Vale to get reception, okay?”

“-Kay. Bye, Ake--are.” the line turned into a garbled hiss then cut off with a pop.

Akelarre sighed as she put away her phone. “Poor Ruby.”

“You sound like you’re close to her,” Velvet said.

The Grimm princess next to her shrugged. “Sorta. She’s a real sweetheart, and I’m sure she’ll grow up to be a great woman. She just has a sort of enthusiasm that I like.”

“That’s cute,” Velvet said. She wasn’t about to pry. Velvet wondered how the half-plus-seven rule worked when one party was thousands of years old.

“That’s the Spire,” Akelarre said, bouncing in her seat as she pointed towards the horizon.

They were skimming over land now, rocky growths covered in crystals that caught the sunlight speeding by under them as they rushed towards the gigantic building in the distance.

Velvet focused on the flight while doing her best to ignore the flocks of Nevermore circling around the tower of the veritable cloud of Lancers that rose out from crevices in the ground and started fling in twisting spirals around the Bullhead like fireworks heralding the arrival of a champion.

Akelarre directed her towards a small building not too far from the tower where a landing pad’s yellow lights stood out from the purple and black of the world around them.

The Bullhead landed with a small lurch and a hiss from its landing gear, but nothing broke, and if she was a little off-centre of the landing pad, Akelarre didn’t comment. 

“Welcome to the Grimmlands,” Akelarre said as she undid her buckles in a hurry and jumped out of her seat. “C’mon!”

Swallowing, Velvet turned off the Bullhead and got out of her own seat, feeling rather awkward as she followed Akelarre to the back and watched the Grimm girl opening the side door.

A hoard of Grimm awaited them, millions of red eyes affixed to insectile heads. Here and there, alpha Beowolves and Ursas and other Grimm that she didn’t recognize bumped into each other as if trying to get closer.

Not one of them paid her any mind.

“T-that’s a lot of Grimm,” Velvet said.

“Is it?” Akelarre asked. “Well, I guess, if you’re from the city and all.” She frowned at the crowd, then made a shooing gesture. “Go, go, you have things to do and you’re all in my way. Get going.”

The Grimm, with some reluctance, moved away, clearing a path along well-trod stones towards the tower proper.

It was only now that Velvet was standing in the Spire’s shadow that she really got a sense of its scale. The building had looked tall, but rather squat from the air. On the ground it was clear that it was bigger around than all of Beacon, courtyards and all. Stones the size of houses stacked atop each other made up parts of it, but the majority was a pure black rock that almost glowed a faint purple. 

She swallowed. “M-maybe I should stay in the Bullhead?” she said.

Akelarre snorted. “And spend the night in the cold? No, none of that. You’re a guest here. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything eat you without permission.”

Akelarre looked like she was about to go on when she paused, head whipping around towards the entrance of the tower.

“Mom!” she shouted, and it was as if a few years had faded away and Akelarre was a girl much younger than she appeared. She rushed towards the Spire, long legs carrying her towards the person standing by the door.

Velvet took one look at the woman and paused.

Coco had once talked to her about how presentation and appearance were important, about how fashion could dictate how someone decided to treat you. How certain people just had a presence to them.

She had always thought it was more of Coco’s hot air. A bit of exaggeration to explain why some people were just more charismatic than others.

The woman moving out of the arch of the Spire had presence. 

The air felt thicker because she was there, colder and with a tang of ozone as though lightning were about to be called down upon Velvet’s head. The Grimm moved back, heads lowering in respect and deference and the very skies seemed to darken as she moved into what should have been the light of day. It was as if the sun was afraid on inconveniencing her.

She was tall, that much was immediately obvious, but she wore her height the way some might wear armour. It was there to tell you that this person was grander than you, and that she would not bow. 

Red eyes flicked to Velvet for just a fraction of a second and that was enough that Velvet wasn’t sure if her heart would be able to keep beating. Then the woman’s attention was all for Akelarre and a small smile, like a crack running across a thousand year old glacier, appeared across her fine lips. “Daughter,” she said a moment before Akelarre crashed into her. It was like a train running into a fortress with walls of pure titanium.

“I missed you,” Akelarre declared.

The woman placed a hand on Akelarre’s head, smoothly moving some hair out of the girl’s face. “And I you. It has been far too quiet. Though Tyrian and Hazel have tried to keep me company these last few days.”

“Oh, I haven’t met Tyrian yet. Is he the one with the tail? He’s looking at my bugs right now.”

The woman nodded once, a noise coming out of her that Velvet couldn’t place but that brought a smile to Akelarre’s face. “That’s him. Now, tell me, who is our guest?”

Akelarre finally let go and turned to face Velvet. “That’s Velvet Scarlatina. She’s a friend.”

“A friend.” The word was repeated without the slightest hint of emotion.

“Velvet, this is mom. But, uh, you should probably call her Salem. Or Your Majesty .” 

If Velvet had ever thought Akelarre’s gaze was scary, she now knew better. Salem looked at her, really looked, and Velvet felt as though she was naked in front of an entire mod who was out for her blood.

She almost peed herself.

“Well met, Velvet. I do hope you will come to enjoy the hospitality of our little home.”

“Mom, stop it, you’re scaring her,” Akelarre said. “Look, she almost shivering.”

“I, I’m okay,” Velvet said.

Salem’s smile carried very little humour. “Of course. Akelarre, dear, how about you go unpack all your things. I have a few things to speak to our guest about.” 

Akelarre didn’t seem sure. “You won’t hurt her?” 

Salem raised one delicate eyebrow. “You know me better than that.”

With a shrug, Akelarre acquiesced. “Alright. Velvet, just find a Grimmsect when you’re done, I’ll have it lead you to your rooms.” 

And with that, Velvet was suddenly alone with the most terrifying being on Remnant.

“Come,” she said.

***

Credit for the LDH thing goes to FacelessPorcelain who gave me the idea.

Also, the pace slows down a bit for a few chapters. As in, nothing plot-important really happens for about three chapters. It’s all just fluff and cuteness and stuff like that. Also-also, I tried to make this as wholesome as possible so that we could put the drama of the last chapter behind us.

Big thank you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Velvet likened it, at least in the privacy of her own mind, to walking to class before a big test. Mounting nerves, a coiling snake of anxiety in her tummy, sweaty palms and an urge to call in sick.

Then Salem, queen of the Grimm and scariest mom ever, opened the door to a room and ushered her in first.

Part of her expected a torture chamber, but she was instead greeted by a ncie little louging area, with padded seats and a little coffee table on which a nice crystal sat in a vase. Of course, it was then that she noticed the tentacle Grimm floating in one corner, its eye fixed on her and its many, far too many, limbs twitching.

“Don’t worry about the Seer,” Salem said with a gesture towards the tentacle monster. “We won’t be doing anything with that for a few minutes yet. Sit.”

Velvet sat. 

The Seer hovered.

Salem smiled.

Velvet regretted every minute spent watching that sort of Mistrailian cartoon. “W-why did you want to see me, ma’am?”

Salem turned the act of sitting down into a display of grace in action, long legs bending just so before she crossed them one over the other and leaned her head to one side, chin resting on a closed fist.

“I have questions,” she said. “Before we move on to dinner.”

“Oh. Okay.” Velvet studied the floor and placed both hands on her knees to keep them from shaking.

“You’re a friend of that... Coco girl, yes?”

“Yes. Are, are you going to hurt Coco?” Velvet asked.

Salem hummed. “I haven’t decided yet. One the one hand, it taught my dear Akelarre a valuable lesson. On the other hand, Akelarre was hurt. It’s only fair that I return the pain in kind.”

“P-pain?” Velvet whispered.

Salem made a gesture with her free hand, dismissive. “I misspoke. Pain is too simple a word. I would take her from everything she loves, then ensure through my arts and magic that she lives to the fullest potential of her natural life. And in those many, many decades I will show her a whole new dimension of suffering unlike anything her feeble little mind could even begin to imagine.” All that was said with the same tone Velvet might have used to tell someone she was going to go get milk, or if they would pass the butter. No grandstanding, just an outright statement of what she planned to do with Coco for the rest of Coco’s life.

“I, I can’t,” Velvet said. There was a spark of something in her chest, bravery, maybe. It grew like a blazing fire in the hearth of her soul. “I can’t let you.”

“Can’t let me what?” Salem asked. She took that fire, the hearth, and the house it was in and tossed them all into the deep abyss of space.

“N-nevermind,” Velvet said.

“Hrm, well, nothing is written in stone. I could yet change my mind. And Akelarre is so much the forgiving sort. That’s not why I brought you here,” Salem said.

The Queen gestured and the tentacle beast in the corner chortled as it floated closer. Velvet tensed, legs locking with thighs together and arms crossing her chest. Even her ears drooped as it came near. 

“Show us,” Salem demanded.

The Seer bobbed once, then its pitch black eye whirled and twisted before taking the shape of an image, a moving image. It was Akelarre, Akelarre in a white robe, her hair stuck up in eight pigtails, though no two were of the same length and they looked quite frankly ridiculous.

“That’s when Akelarre tried to imitate my hairstyle. I would usually change modes every so often, but her attempt that one time has encouraged me to keep this style for now.” Salem gestured again. “The next one.”

Velvet wasn’t sure what was happening, but this was better than what her imagination had conjured. 

The next image was no image at all, but a slightly blurry... video, of sorts. Akelarre giggling as she tickled a huge wall of a man, her black arm deformed into a myriad of little tentacles that targeted the man’s armpits and tummy. He was obviously working hard not to laugh, but then a chortle escaped him and they both broke out into peels of laughter.

“That’s Akelarre, playing with her new arm, the one that I made her,” Salem said with the same tone she’d just used to threaten Coco. “I do like hearing her laugh.”

“She, um, she has a nice laugh,” Velvet ventured.

“Yes. She does. The next one.”

This time the image in the Seer was of Akelarre guiding a swarm of what looked like Grimm bumblebees, but instead of flying in formations like the other bugs around them, they bumped into each other, the other Grimmsects, the walls, the ceiling and once off of a crystalline vase, sending it crashing with a clatter. The pout Akelarre was wearing was downright dangerous it was so cute.

“Oh no,” Velvet said, hands clasping over her mouth as one bumblegrimm thumped Akelarre behind the head and sent her sprawling.

Salem made a sound, though what it could mean, Velvet had no clue. “Indeed,” she said.

The door burst open and a panting Akelarre, hair dishevelled and eyes wide, stood in the frame. “Mom!” the single word was filled with more embarrassing than Velvet had heard since the time Coco brought her shopping for underwear, then told her to put on a show for the boys. 

“Yes, Daughter?” Salem asked. “I was just about to move onto the next image.”

Velvet watched, fascinated, as the Seer projected an image of Akelarre moving in a way that might have been dancing. Maybe. There was certainly rhythmic motion and she was holding onto a rather large praying mantis and smiling, but she looked as graceful as a drunken raccoon.

“No!” Akelarre said. Then there were bugs.

Velvet squeaked as a swarm battered into the Seer and sent it tumbling across the room to disappear in a wash of black smoke. 

“That was a somewhat extreme reaction,” Salem said. “You merely had to ask me to stop.”

“Yes, well,” Akelarre said, face rather red. “Dinner’s ready. C’mon Velvet.”

Velvet looked to Salem, but the woman just shooed her off. “We can talk at the dinner table,” she said as she started to climb back to her feet. “In the meantime, do ask Akelarre to show you to your rooms. I’m certain she knows which ones already.”

“Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am.”

Akelarre wrapped a hand around Velvet’s, surprisingly calloused skin tight around Velvet’s hand as she pulled her out of the room and back down the corridor. “I’m so sorry about that,” she said as the hint of pink on Akelarre’s cheek began to fade. 

“It’s okay?” Velvet said. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about the whole ordeal. “She seems to really care about you. It’s kind of cute.”

The pink on Akelarre’s cheeks returned with a vengeance. “Yeah, well, uh, I’m sure your parents are the same.”

Velvet had a flash of her mother sitting Akelarre down to show off images of a baby Velvet when her ears were still mostly fluff and she was too young to know better than to be on the other side of the camera. “Ah, yeah,” she said.

“Maybe I can meet your parents one day,” Akelarre said.

Velvet looked down at where their hands were joined, did some very quick mental math, and felt all the blood rushing to her cheeks. “Ah.”

Akelarre led her up a winding staircase, a few Beowolves moving out of her path the same way someone would move out of Glynda’s way in Beacon. Velvet watched them as they walked past, some small part of her still finding everything surreal. “This is where my bedroom is,” Akellare said as she pointed to a closed door. “And you can stay here, if you want.” She gestured at the door across the hall, and then pushed it open with a shoulder.

Velvet had never really been to a fancy hotel. She wasn’t the sort, and she couldn’t afford it besides. The cost for a few nights at the fanciest place in Vale would probably cover a tenth of the downpayment on a new lens for her camera. But she imagined that even the most luxurious place in Vale wouldn’t mind having a room like the one she was in as their penthouse.

Tall statues made of carved dust crystals stood in nooks and corners, a plush couch took up a quarter of a sitting area. She could see the actual bedroom off to one side behind an opened door, a four poster bed piled high with sheets just waiting for someone to bounce on it. 

“It’s very pretty,” she said.

Akelarre looked around the room too. “I guess it is.”

“Did you, um, want to show me your room?” she asked. It was the sort of thing she would do if she brought a friend over, and it would occupy their time. Also, it might make Akelarre let go of her hand.

“Sure,” Akelarre said with a shrug. 

Back down the other side of the corridor, they reached Akelarre’s room, the door opening on its own as they approached.

It was a mess. 

Velvet’s eyes boggled as she tried to take in all the workbenches, tables and drawing boards pushed up against every wall, the disassembled weapons with parts all over, the huge cobwebs stuck to one wall and the chair piled high with clean clothes that took centre stage of a pile of not so clean clothes mounted around it. 

Her feet sank into a thick carpet, enough that a few nearby discarded crayons rolled over and tapped against her foot. She opened her mouth, then closed it with a click.

Then she heard the buzzing and looked up. The ceiling was a hive. Huge beehives stuck to the rafters and partially hidden in the shadows, flashes of yellow flitting from one hive to the next before darting out of an open window at the back.

“Uh,” Velvet said as her attention was dragged away from the living ceiling and to a wall covered in crayon drawings that were very... enthusiastic. “Uh.”

“I really should have cleaned up before you arrived,” Akelarre whispered to herself.

Velvet took a moment to stare at Akelarre’s bed, because it was something that deserved to be stared at. A huge round thing that was as tall as her hips and looked so plush that she was afraid someone might drown in it. Gauzy curtains surrounded it on all sides and it was covered in satin sheets. Frankly, it looked like it belonged in a brothel.

“Oh yeah, I found that in the dungeons,” Akelarre said. “It’s weird looking, but so comfy. Did you want to test it out?”

“Haaa,” was Velvet’s response as Akelarre finally let go of her hand and started taking off her cloak. She tossed the piece of clothing onto a rack, then stretched a little. 

“We can play after dinner, it looks like it’s almost ready. 

Play. 

Play after dinner. 

Was she going to have babies? Would her mom be happy or angry if they were part Grimm? Was mom going to have to fight with Salem to be allowed to play with her grandbabies?

“Velvet, are you okay?” Akelarre asked.

“Aaaaa,” was Velvet’s low keen of a reply.

“If you don’t want to play cards or play with my bugs we can do other things,” Akelarre said, sounding rather shy. 

“Cards. Cards are good,” Velvet snapped out of her fugue. “Cards are great.”

Akelarre’s smile was a little confused, but it was certainly nicer than any of the thoughts going through Velvet’s head. “Sure, but after dinner. Come on.”

Grabbing her hand again, Akelarre pulled her out of the disaster zone that was her bedroom and back out into the corridor. “You, um, have a very nice room,” Velvet said. It certainly was unique.

“Thanks,” Akelarre said. “So, dinner is, a bit of a thing,” she started. “The food is fine, by the way. We have it all imported from Mistral and Vale and Vacuo. Sometimes from Atlas. Sometimes we get fresh stuff from the Grimm worshipping cults.”

She probably should have been surprised that there were Grimm worshippers out there, but after all the other things she saw that day, Velvet wasn’t even phased. “Okay.”

“You don’t need to bother with the whole seven spoons, eighteen forks thing. I never did. Salem, mom, is the only one that actually cares.”

“O-okay.”

“Just be polite and everything will be fine. I know you’re a little nervous, but I’ll keep you safe, okay?” Akelarre looked over her shoulder and there was a warmth in her expression, even under the red of her eyes and the black, crack-like veins running along the edges of her face. 

Velvet nodded, finding new determination swelling within her. “Okay.”

The dining room, or maybe it was hall, was a cavernous room that reminded her a little of Beacon’s cafeteria. At least, the dimensions did. The cafeteria didn’t have a cathedral ceiling or stained glass murals that cast colourful light onto a lone table that was longer than the average bus and surrounded by high-backed chairs. 

Salem was, somehow, already at the head of the table, a tiny pair of glasses hanging off the tip of her nose as she read over a book that could only be described as a tome. To her left sat a man with an almost rictus grin plastered to his face.

“Come on,” Akelarre said as she moved to the far end of the table. For a moment, Velvet was pleased to see that they were going to have a dozen meters between them and Salem, but Akelarre took the two place settings at the other end and carried them all the way over to Salem’s right.

A flash of a smile touched the Queen’s lips for just a moment, not that she ever looked away from her book.

Akelarre gave the seat next to her a pat, and Velvet reluctantly took her place. She wasn't sure where to look, but the grin from the man sitting across from her caught her attention and his smile widened when he saw her looking his way. “You’re a faunus!” he said.

“Um,” was Velvet’s reply. She couldn’t exactly hide her ears.

“Me too!” With that, the man waved a barb-tipped tail around, the head of it whipping around his head. “I’m Tyrian. I live to serve my lady goddess. Are you the same for my goddess’ sweet child?”

Hearing someone call Salem the immortal Queen of the Grimm a goddess didn’t even rank in the top ten weirdest things she had heard that day.

“Wait,” Akelarre said, raising a hand to pause the man. He immediately shut up, all of his attention falling onto Akelarre with the kind of awe and wonder in his eyes that Velvet had never seen before. “Are you an arthropod faunus?”

“I am, I am!” Tyrian said. “I’m a scorpion faunus.” He brought his tail around and started petting it. “Did you want to touch?”

“I believe,” Salem said as she closed her book. “That we can save the touching for after dinner.” A dozen of the floating tentacle Grimm slid into the room, humming as they moved towards the dinner table with trays held in their tentacled grasps. “I would rather not allow our meal to grow cold.”

Velvet wasn’t sure what to expect from Grimm food, but it certainly wasn’t a steak with vegetables to the side covered with a fine sauce and sprinkled with spices. The portions were divided and placed like something in the really expensive restaurants Coco was always wishing she could visit. 

Salem carefully picked a knife and fork from the selection laid out around her and started cutting into her steak. Tyrian just grabbed his with one hand and bit into it and Akelarre hummed as a praying mantis the size of a cat climbed onto the table and started chopping her steak into bite-sized pieces.

Velvet hesitated a little before she picked the same knife and fork as Salem and cut into her meal. She figured that it was probably safe to eat. And the steak was too big to be human meat. She hoped.

The tentacle Grimm started pouring wine into goblets before Salem and Tyrian, but they only had water for Akelarre and Velvet. “My daughter tells me you attend Beacon,” Salem said.

Velvet didn’t know if it was a question or not. “Um, yes. I’m in my second year.” She would have mentioned her team, but the more separation between her and Coco the better.

“So, you go to Ozma’s little academy. You know, this isn’t the first time he has pushed for more education for his so-called Huntsmen. Though I don’t recall him ever acting as the headmaster in person.”

“Ozma?” Velvet asked.

Salem nodded before taking a sip of wine. “Yes. I do believe he calls himself Ozpin now. He changes faces as often as I change clothes.”

“But you’ve been wearing the same dress since I met you,” Akelarre said.

Salem looked down at her fine black dress and languidly shrugged one shoulder. “Yes.”

“You know Headmaster Ozpin?” Velvet asked.

Maybe she had fought him before. He was a very brave and well-known huntsman, one of the best. All the history books talked about him and his Huntsman Cards were worth a lot.

“We were married for a century or two.”

“Oh.”

***

Big thank-you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty

“And this is the bathroom,” Akelarre announced with a sweeping wave not dissimilar to a game show host showing off a new car. 

To be fair, Velvet had to admit that it was a really nice bathroom. A little dark, and she could have done without the sinister purple lighting, but the gigantic tub that sank into the floor and the golden faucets lent everything a rather classically majestic feel. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll just freshen up before bed, then.”

Akelarre grinned and her and nodded. “Sure thing. If you need anything just flag down one of my Grimmsects.” With that and a dismissive wave, Akelarre left Velvet to her own devices, shutting the bathroom door behind her, then stomping off down the corridor with a cheerful humm that quickly faded. 

She waited a moment, coiling trepidation fading as she came to grips with the fact that she was now alone. Alone in the centre of Grimm power on Remnant. 

Velvet smacked her cheeks and shook her head. “Head in the game, bunny,” she said to herself before walking over to the tub.

A few minutes later and some curious sniffing of crystal bottles while the water rose, she was sinking into water that was just shy of scalding, the fresh scent of some sort of flowery perfume rising in the air, carried by tendrils of steamy water.

Her hair pooling around her shoulder, Velvet sank deeper and deeper into the tub, feeling taut muscles relaxing as the strength was leached out of them. She had only been in the Grimmlands for a few hours and it had already been one of the most terrifying experiences in her life. For all that, it was still strangely... good.

Had someone told her a year ago that Grimm had a leader, a queen, then someone like Salem was exactly how she would have imagined them. But then Salem showed that she wasn’t just some caricature. She was a proud, if maybe overly proud, mother. She cared about Akelarre more than she probably cared about anything else on Remnant. 

Grimm, who were supposed to be mindless and evil, were surprisingly tame when not trying to eat you; they had personality. Or maybe that was just when they were near Akelarre and Salem. Still, it added a whole new dimension to things, like growing up to discover that the bad guys in a favourite book might have had a point all along. 

Maybe. 

She was not about to start extolling the virtues of the Grimm way of life or of their leaders. Not like Mister Tyrian.

She shivered in the water and sank in until her chin was just hovering over the lapping, bubble-covered froth. Mister Tyrian was probably not completely sane, she decided.

Just as Velvet was beginning to think that maybe she should climb out of the bath and start drying off she heard a click and her half-lidded eyes snapped to the door.

A Seer floated in.

The creature’s low hum filled the bathroom and had Velvet shrinking away from it as it moved, menacingly, towards her. 

“Oh no,” she whispered as the Grimm came to a hovering stop next to the bath. 

Then it dropped a pile of cloth on a stool, dipped down, and picked up her uniform before floating off. The door clicked shut behind it.

Velvet blinked at where the Seer had been, then down at the folded garments left in its wake. “Oh,” she said to no one at all.

Feeling rather silly, Velvet dunked her head into the water, wrung her hair and washed her ears before finally standing up and stepping out of the bath. She didn’t want to dribble water all over, but she doubted that Salem herself was the one keeping the Spire clean. It was probably a small army of cleaning Grimm.

Smiling at the idea of Grimm whose duty it was to clean, Velvet toweled off and picked up the topmost piece of clothing as soon as she was dry.

Her smile froze. 

Thick black cloth, white lace, frills all over, an apron built into the front of the dress and short, poofy sleeves.

A headdress fell off and flopped to the ground with a rustle of cloth, little more than a small cap covered in white lace with holes for her ears. 

Velvet folded the maid outfit, put it back on the pile of other clothes which, she noted, were little more than stockings and underwear that were far, far too lacy, and patted it all down. 

“No,” she declared.

Grabbing the largest towel she could find, she wrapped it around herself, pulled it into a tight knot then swayed a little to make sure she could still move. It might have only been a towel, but it still covered more than the atrocity folded on the floor.

Taking a deep breath, she moved to the door and slid it open to peek outside. She found empty corridors all around. Padding along, she beelined towards the passage leading to her room, hoping that she would find something more to wear than nothing.

It wasn’t to be.

Walking down the passageway with a grin fit for a madman was Tyrian. His tail swayed behind him like an excited cat’s as he walked with both hands stuffed in his pockets. 

“Ah,” she said as her eyes met his.

The two faunus stopped at their respective ends of the corridor. Tyrian eyed her up and down, then tilted his head to one side.

Velvet dripped onto the floor.

“My my, the Princess sure is adventurous!” he cackled.

“I-it’s nothing like that,” she protested immediately. 

His knowing smirk and too-wide eyes said that he thought differently. 

“Velvet?” 

Velvet spun around, breath leaving her in a wash of relief as she found Akelarre standing at the corner behind her. “Akelarre,” she said.

“Why are you, um, mostly naked?” the Grimm princess asked.

“A Grimm stole my clothes,” was Velvet’s reply. She recalled using a similar excuse to explain away undone homework once. Was this karma?

Akelarre’s slow nod hinted that she wasn’t sure about that answer but was willing to go along with it. “Okay. Did you want PJs? I have some that might fit.” She gestured towards where her room was.

“I sleep naked,” Tyrian decided to add to the conversation.

Akelarre and Velvet shared a look that held deep understanding and the kind of camaraderie that Velvet had only ever had with her teammates. 

“Thank you...” Akelarre began then paused as though searching for the right words. “Thank you for sharing that, Mister Tyrian,” Akelarre said. “We’ll be going now.”

Akelarre grabbed Velvet’s hand and started pulling her along, going the long way around Tyrian who just grinned and waved at them. 

“He’s a little,” Velvet started. “Yes.”

“Yup,” Akelarre agreed. They didn’t say much beyond that until Akelarre lead Velvet into her bedroom. “I have some T-shirts and shorts somewhere. I think my PJs are a bit tall for you, but they are fluffy, if you want a pair,” she said as she let go of Velvet and started pulling drawers open.

“Ah, anything will do,” Velvet said. It wasn’t quite the truth, but it was close enough. 

Akelarre hummed to herself as she pulled out a pair of bright blue sweatpants and a large T-shirt with an ant head printed on the front. “This’ll do, I think,” she said as she pushed the clothes into Velvet’s waiting arms. “You can use my bathroom. It’s bug free,” she said.

“Ah, thanks,” Velvet said as she followed Akelarre’s pointing hand to a room connected to Akelarre’s. It was, as Akelarre said, a bathroom. One that was bigger than Velvet’s bedroom at home, but still a bathroom. She got changed in a jiffy, rolling up the towel she still had and tossing it into a basket of dirty clothes that was off to one side. 

Finally wearing something acceptable, Velvet stepped out and into Akelarre’s room to find the princess sitting on the edge of her bed and kicking her feet out. “Are you going to sleep now?” Akelarre asked.

“Ah, yes, I suppose,” Velvet said. She wondered if Akelarre was going to insist on painting their nails and talking about boys or bugs or something. She had to admit to herself that she wouldn’t be completely averse to it. 

Akelarre nodded. “Cool. Here, take this,” she said before reaching down just as a Grimmsect slipped by. When Akelarre rose it was to show off the bug she now held. She pushed it out towards Velvet and its little legs starts grasping the air, revealing that instead of claws all eight of its feet ended in little pads. “This is a hugbug,” Akelarre announced with evident pride. “I started with a tarantula, then made it more fluffy. Do you want it to help you sleep?”

“I,” Velvet started. “I think I’m okay.”

“Hrm,” Akelarre said as she placed the spider back down and watched it skitter away. “You don’t need to worry about squishing it. My bugs are very tough. I test them myself. Oh!” Akelarre’s eyes lit up and she brought both hands up as if ready to catch something. A white blur crashed into her with a squeal and she had to take a step back not to fall as it buried itself into her neck. “This,” she said as she turned the ball of fluff around to reveal a face almost entirely hidden by poofy fur. “Is a cuddlebug.”

The cuddlebug, some sort of moth if Velvet had to guess, waved its long feather-like antennae at her. “Uh,” she said.

“No?” Akelarre’s face fell. “They’re really sweet. They like burrowing into you--not literally--and they’ve very warm. Their wing dust makes you feel happy. They even purr.” The cuddlebug demonstrating by letting out a long rumble that had its entire body vibrating.

Velvet shook her head slowly.

“Tough customer,” Akelarre said as she let the moth go. It flopped through the air with more enthusiasm than grace and eventually face planted onto the pile of pillows on Akelarre’s bed.”Hrm... maybe,” Akelarre said with a considering tone. “You’re making me get out the big guns.” 

Velvet watched with rising trepidation as Akelarre moved to the door, opened it, then bent over to pick up something just outside.

When the princess returned it was to show off the monstrocity she was hugging, a large, fluffy pile of limbs and wings and little antenna that stuck out in every direction. “This is a hugglebug,” Akelarre announced with pride. “It’s a hybrid of a hugbug and a cuddlebug.”

The hugglebug stared at Akelarre with all eight of its huge eyes. “Um,” Velvet said.

“Quee?” the hugglebug replied.

“I designed it using the brand new field of Grimm Science to be the most huggable and cuddleable bug ever.”

Velvet shook her head again. “I don’t think I’m... ready to sleep with a bug,” she said.

“Queee,” the hugglebug said. Its many, many eyes started to water and its mandibles puffed out in what could only be described as a pout.

“I really shouldn’t,” Velvet said.

The hugglebug started purring, it’s legs stretching out towards her as if begging to be hugged. 

“No,” Velvet said to the creature, putting some force into it.

The hugglebug paused, then let all of its many limbs flop down as it gave up. The creature stuttered, its purring stopping with a shudder before its shoulders started bouncing up and down with little hiccupping motions. “Quee, quee,” it said.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Akelarre said as she hugged the bug from behind. “You don’t need to cry. Shush now baby.” The princess started rocking the bug from side to side. “It’s not that she doesn’t love you, it’s okay. She’s just not ready to commit. I’m sure she finds you cute.”

Velvet looked away, a well of guilt bursting into her chest as she tried, and failed, to ignore the pitiful sniffled coming from the monster. “Oh-okay, fine,” she folded. “But, but not too much... cuddling, okay?”

As Velvet was bowled over by a dozen kilos of happy cuddlemonster, she wondered where everything had gone wrong in her life. 

***

I swear the plot picks up eventually. Maybe. 

Big thank-you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-One

Waking up in a plush ocean of softness was new. Realising with a twitch that she wasn’t at Beacon or at home, but instead in the fortress of what most people would consider the enemy was jarring. Jarring enough that Velvet came fully awake and stared at the arched ceiling for a while.

Then the hugglebug tucked up against her side wiggled a little, its legs moving over her waist to squeeze her tighter before it pushed its face into the pit of her arm and purred.

Velvet sighed.

“I know you’re awake,” a rather familiar voice said.

Straining her neck to look up, Velvet could just see Akelarre standing by the open doorway, looking all dishevelled and unprepared for the morning in a pair of Beowolf-print pyjamas. “Good morning,” Velvet said as she tossed her blankets off. “Were you waiting for me to get up?”

She lifted the hugglebug’s legs off of her body. The spider-thing didn’t resist, only letting out a pitiful ‘quee’ of protest before rolling into a tight little ball of white fluff atop the bed.

“Hrm? Not really. I bugged your room. In case a rogue Grimm wanted to take a nibble out of you in the middle of the night.”

Velvet froze, one leg off the side of the bed. “That happens?”

Akelarre rubbed at her cheek where the imprint of a pillow still marked her. “It’s never happened before, that I’m aware, but it might. Better safe than a snack?”

“Thanks, then,” Velvet said before covering up a yawn.

“If you’re still tired,” Akelarre began.

Velvet shook her head. “I’m awake now, and I slept well. Just got the yawns,” she said.

“Oh, okay. You look really cute when you’re all tousled up like that.”

Velvet was too tired and not nearly awake enough to summon up the proper levels of mortification. So she just raked a hand through her hair and straightened out her ears before getting to her feet. “Thanks.”

“I’ll leave you to it. The baths are over there. Don’t worry, I checked for any Grimm and I removed my bugs. Oh, and your clothes are clean and stacked up next to the sink. No surprise Seer visits mid-bath for you.” With that being said, Akelarre pushed herself off the doorframe and moved into the corridor. “Just poke the Atlas when you’re ready. It’ll guide you to breakfast.”

***

Dressed and ready for the day, or ready-ish, Velvet opened the door of her guest bedroom and prepared herself for whatever an Atlas was.

She came face-to-face with a beetle the size of a minivan. 

“Um,” she said to the enormous Grimm who stared back with large, placid eyes. “Are you Atlas?” she asked.

The beetle Grimm nodded its head with one slow motion.

“Can you lead me to Akelarre?” she asked.

The beast stared at her with placid eyes. 

A minute passed. 

Wanting to bury her face her hand hands, Velvet sighed and poked the Grimm where its shoulder would be were it anything but a giant beetle.

The Atlas turned towards the far end of the corridor and started walking. It looked as if it was going at a slow, steady pace, but the length of its stride belied its speed. 

She stayed right next to the Grimm, sometimes moving behind it as they crossed paths with other Grimm, both insectile and not, on the way to wherever Akelarre wanted her to be. 

That, as it turned out, was in a little kitchen two floors down. Just a little nook with a few fridges, some counter space and a pair of those tentacle Grimm off to one side preparing breakfast with quick flicks of their tentacled limbs. 

Akelarre was sitting on the far end of the long island cutting the room in half, a book resting on the table next to her and a bowl of cereal at her side. There was a box of Pumpkin Pete’s open next to a carton of milk. “You’re here!” Akelarre said as she pushed a bookmark into her book and pushed it aside. “Want some?” she asked while pointing at the cereals with a spoon.

Velvet took the stool next to Akelarre, looked for a bowl, suppressed a squeak when one of the tentacle Grimm dropped one before her, then went about preparing a perfectly unhealthy breakfast. “I kind of expected you to have, um, something fancier for breakfast,” she said.

“Oh, mom does. Or will once her breakfast is ready. But fancy breakfasts take a long time and they’re not always as tasty as, you know, that,” she said, gesturing to the box with a smiling Pyrrha Nikos on its side.

“You know, she’s at Beacon this year,” Velvet said.

“...Mom?”

Velvet choked back a giggle. “No, Nikos, the girl on the box.”

Akelarre eyed the redhead for a moment. “Oh, okay then. Is she nice?”

“I never actually talked to her. She’s supposed to be a really good fighter.” Velvet poured herself a bowlful, then filled it with milk. 

“Hrm.”

Breakfast was rather quiet, with both girls munching down and too busy eating to talk. Akelarre was the first to finish and push her bowl towards one of the Seers who took it and moved towards a sink without so much as glancing their way. 

Picking her book back up, Akelarre went back to reading until Velvet’s hovering closer to spy on the contents caught her attention. “It’s a book on entomology,” she explained. “We’ll be making new Grimm later. It’s pretty much why I came here.”

“Making Grimm?” Velvet repeated. On the one hand, that sounded terrifying. On the other, it would be really good to know just how Akelarre and her mom made the Grimm.

“Yup!”

***

Ironwood stared.

Ozpin stared right back. 

In the end, they both broke eye contact at the same time, the general reaching for a scroll to check the time and Ozpin bringing up his mug for a sip. 

“Go over the whole thing again,” James said, his rough voice sounding rather raw over the call. It couldn’t have been the line. Ozpin’s office was literally within sight of the CCT tower and he had no doubt that Ironwood’s end of the connection was perfect. 

Ozpin sighed, the sound masked by the lowering of his mug. He didn’t want to repeat reports that were already sent, and he was no cadet for Ironwood to boss around, but his old friend did some of his best thinking while in moments like these. 

“The subject, codenamed Ungoliant, first appeared last spring at the tail end of the school year. Initial reports from Patch and later from other regions across the continent of Vale tell of large insect-like Grimm appearing in swarms around rural areas. They don’t seem to roam as much as other Grimm, but are far more territorial if distrurbed.”

Ironwood nodded on-screen. “We’ve noticed them here too. Nasty bastards, clever too. Lost a few good soldiers to traps made of webs and the like.”

“We have been lucky so far,” Ozpin said. “Our loses to the Grimm this year are not much different from average.”

“Hrm,” was Jame’s response. “So, your... Ungoliant showed up in Patch first?”

“I had a team of huntsmen in training there to investigate the initial sightings of insect-type Grimmm for the locals. First years on their last semester under the supervision of Professor Peach.”

“Who?”

“They ran into Ungoliant during their initial scouting operation. Their report is tied to the other documents I sent you,” Ozpin said. “It’s also where we got our first image of the suspect.”

Ironwood nodded. “She looks surprisingly human. Maybe some sort of faunus at first glance, or someone with a medical issue. I wouldn’t jump to calling her a Grimm at first glance.”

Ozpin raised his mug again, but lowered it when he noticed that it was empty. “The Grimm are becoming surprisingly deceptive.”

“That’s a rather terrifying thought. What did you do after receiving the initial report?” he asked.

“There was not much I could do. Even with that one blurry image the council would have laughed me out of the room with such an anemic report. There are other explanations too, we both know about Geists and some of the more, shall we say, distressing sorts of Grimm.”

Ironwood’s lips rose in a snarl. “Politics. I can see why you would sit on it, but you should have forwarded those reports to me sooner,” he said.

“Alas my friend, hindsight makes fools of all of us.” Ozpin pushed his mug away. “Our next reports came a couple of months later. One of my more trusted subordinates,” he began.

“Qrow,” Ironwood said with a snort. 

“One of my more trusted subordinates,” Ozpin repeated. “Reported that Ungoliant was in Vale proper. He tried to capture Ungoliant, but was... distracted by local law enforcement.”

“He was drunk, wasn’t he?” Ironwood asked.

Ozpin wished he had another full cup. That would have been a perfect time for a mysterious sip of hot chocolate to mask his feelings on the matter. “Perhaps.”

“Right, so you sprung an ambush on her,” he said.

“We did. One of our students told us that their team had been approached by Ungoliant to arrange something on their behalf. We did not have a lot of time to act, but I did send out my professors to intercept and amush the Grimm. It failed, but we can now confirm the presence of unusually small Grimm of insectile nature within the walls of Vale. We’ve since had one run in with her. Glynda and Peter were both there, as you’ll recall.”

“She was rather vocal about it, yes,” Ironwood said. “So what are we doing about it now?”

“We?” Ozpin asked.

Jame’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t be an ass, Ozpin, you never spill this kind of information unless you want something out of me. This... Ungoliant is not just an issue that will hurt your academy. The moment she snuck into Vale and started harassing its citizens she became a problem that needs to be dealt with. We need her captured, studied and disposed of before more of them start infiltrating our cities.”

“I know, I know,” Ozpin said. “The issue will be tracking her down. She isn’t some mindless monster like other Grimm, she’s smart, capable of reasoning and has come out of altercations with my professors twice without so much as a scratch. 

“Then perhaps hiring new staff would be in order,” ironwood sniped. “I doubt you would have that kind of problem with the professors of Atlas.”

“Perhaps, but I would rather not have my students waste their precious time learning how to goosestep.”

James let out a bark. “Be that way then.” Reaching up, the general ran a hand over his chin. “So you think this has to do with Amber?” 

“I doubt it,” Ozpin said with a shake of his head. “Ungoliant never reached out towards Beacon, and if it’s looking for Amber then it’s either being very subtle about it or is looking in entirely the wrong direction. No, I don’t know what its goals in Vale are, and that’s what’s disturbing me.”

“What has it been up to, so far?” Ironwood asked.

“It has ostensibly allied itself with some local thieves and has been stealing Dust.”

“Dust? The last thing we need are Grimm that use Dust,” Ironwood said.

“Indeed. I don’t know what Salem is up to, or why she sent this agent here, but I intend to find out,” Ozpin said.

Ironwood’s face twisted into a grin that could charitably be called menacing. “And for that you need me,” he said. 

“Not yet my friend, not yet.”

Ironwood watched Ozpin for a long moment. “Maybe not. But I think it’s high time that I start my own sort of meddling.”

***

The cavern was scary. Not meeting-Salem-scary, or Akelarre talking about taking over the world scary, but still pretty scary. She gave it a four out of ten for scariness. 

A few weeks ago it would have been far higher, but Velvet figured that she was being immunized against fear.

Stalactites and stalagmites reached out towards each other like the fingers of gods and indistinct purpleish orbs floated near the ceiling, casting long shadows as thy flitted past. She knew that there were eyes staring at her, but whenever she tried to focus on them they would fade away just before she had time to point them out.

“This is where you make Grimm?” Velvet whispered. There was something about the enormous cavern that commanded respect, or at least weariness. The pool of still waters ripples once at her words and Velvet felt as if she was stepping somewhere where mere mortals shouldn’t tread.

“This is it, yeah,” Akelarre said without so much as lowering her voice. “These are the Pools of Darkness. It’s a really silly name. It’s mostly just black magic water.”

“Um,” Velvet said as she eyed the shore of the small lake, obsidian sand stretching out until it sank under the still waters. There were footprints in the sand, all of them heading out of it, all of them monstrous. 

“I’m pretty sure this is the biggest pool. Salem said there were plenty of others though. And sometimes they show up on other continents, but never for too long.”

“That’s... interesting,” Velvet said while managing to only sound a little faint.

Akelarre gave her a happy smile, then bent down to roll up the cuffs of her pyjama pants. In moments the princess of the Grimm had kicked off her shoes and was standing barefoot next to the pool of darkness. “Hop,” she said as she did a little jump and splashed into the ankle deep water. “It’s always really chilly,” she said. “Not too cold, but kind of like... you know that cold feeling you get down your back when you’re walking outside alone at night and then realise that someone is watching you?”

“...No?”

“Well,” Akelarre went on. “That’s the kind of cold it is. Mostly annoying after a while.”

“Okay,” Velvet agreed because she didn’t know what else to do.

“Nevermind,” Akelarre dismissed. “Okay, so now we give birth to a whole new generation of Grimm. Well, I do. I don’t think touching this water would be good for you.”

“B-birth?” Velvet asked. She had heard of birthing pools before. Her mom had talked about them too, if the day ever came and Velvet was ready to become a mommy. Then she put two and two together and came up with a number that was too big for her liking. “I, I don’t think I’m ready to be a midwife,” she said.

Akelarre turned towards her and stared dumbly even as the first horrors started crawling out of the waters. “Huh?”

“Nothing,” Velvet said as she eyed the first creatures to wade to shore. All of them were recognizably insectile, and all of them looked like they could gobble her up in a minute. 

“Okay. Well,” Akelarre said before bending at the knee and picked up one of the nearest Grimm insects. “I wanted you here to get your opinion,” she said as she raised what Velvet recognized as a ladybug, only its carapace was done in monotone colours and its face was a mess of squirming teeth and claws. “I was thinking of opening a Grimm pet shop to help convince people that not all Grimm are evil,” Akelarre said. She wiggled the ladybug who squirmed in return. “Do you think this is cute?”

***

Big thank-you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Two

“You have been stirring up quite a bit of trouble, haven’t you?” Salem asked.

Akelarre had the decency to give her adoptive mother a sheepish smile. “Not too much,” she said. “I only got into two altercations with the police, robbed one place, and maybe assaulted a...” she paused and tried to remember how many gangsters she threatened to have her grimmsects eat. “A few gangsters.”

Salem’s sigh was almost heartwrenching.

They were in an antechamber of Salem’s throne room, just a little area with some seats that were close enough together that when Salem reached out Akelarre only had to shuffle sideways a bit to get into Salem’s headpatting range.

“What am I going to do with you?” Salem asked, a note of exasperation in her voice. “If you weren’t giving Ozma such a headache through your actions I might be tempted to have you pull back. But I don’t want to curb your freedom just because of my own worries.”

“It’s not so bad,” Akelarre said, one eye going half lidded as Salem began running her long fingers against her scalp. “I’ve got most of the criminals in the city cowed already. Just need to give them direction now, and maybe make a few examples and we’re set. Then it’s all about maintenance over time and keeping things disciplined.”

“Perhaps a new mission is in order, then?” Salem asked. “It wouldn’t do for you to go around Vale like some sort of tourist, or perhaps treating the city like a zoo for your own amusement.”

“Well, I had that petshop idea,” Akelarre said.

“It would require a lot of work to turn humanity docile enough for them to accept your pets, I’m afraid,” Salem said. “There are other ways... how would you feel about ruling over Vale proper?”

“Why would I want that?” she asked.

Salem’s shrug was a languid motion. “One part entertainment, another part the ability to rule over a proper population once more. The amount of drama and infighting humans can get up to is terribly amusing. They will go so far just to earn a moment of your appreciation. Also, I always found that increasing taxes without rhyme or reason to be terribly amusing.”

“Mom, you’re beginning to sound like a Disney villain again,” Akelarre said.

“And I still do not know what that means,” Salem pointed out.

“I’m going to miss you,” Akelarre said.

Salem’s hands stopped their slow massaging motions. “You could stay,” the Queen said.

Akelarre shrugged one shoulder. “I could, but I do want to see my friends, and it feels wrong, somehow, to not be in the thick of things.”

“That is a rather horrifying thing to hear from you,” Salem said. “I’m afraid that if things aren’t interesting you’ll be sure to make them so. I do intend to keep some humans around, you know.”

Akelarre rolled her eyes and puffed out her cheeks. She would have been a bit more indignant if there wasn’t a ring of truth to Salem’s words. “I won’t depopulate Vale,” she promised.

“See that you don’t,” Salem said. “Though if the choice is between your safety and that of the city, do recall that you are worth more than any number of humans.”

“Mom, you can’t say that,” Akelarre said.

Salem actually smiled. Or at least her lips twitched upwards at the corners. “Perhaps I shouldn’t, but I certainly have.” The Queen gestured and a shadow flitted into the room, only noticeable because of a flash of white in the darkness.

Akelarre blinked after the creature, but never caught sight of it, only the envelope that appeared in Salem’s outstretched hand. “This is a letter,” Salem said as she handed it to Akelarre. It was a vellum rectangle, the only discerning mark a crimson seal at its front and a fine, almost invisible, tracery of golden gilt along its edges. “I would appreciate it if you could have it delivered to Ozma.”

“Can do,” Akelarre said before she climbed to her feet. “What was that shadow thing?” she asked, searching the room even as she stretched.

“One day I’ll have to teach you a little magic. We must see if you have the gift for it,” Salem said as she stood. “In the meantime, do allow your Queen to have some secrets.”

“Magic sounds handy,” Akelarre said. “Do I get a witch hat?”

The two women stood close to each other for a few long moments, both waiting for the other to move first. It was Akelarre who gave in and took a step forward, arms rising to wrap around Salem’s waist and pull the queen into a tight hug. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”

“I will be looking forward to it,” Salem said.

***

“Are you ready to go?” Akelarre asked as she slid into the main chamber at the base of the Spire.

Velvet was sitting on a suitcase, hands between her knees and head tilted back to stare at the ceiling. Her ears perked towards Akelarre before she turned to stare with wide brown eyes. “Um, yes.”

Akelarre smiled at her friend as she got closer, resisting the urge to tug at the long, floppy ears that were still twitching every few seconds. “Neat. I got my Grimmsects to load most of the stuff into the bullhead, we only need to bring your bags and we’re set to head off.”

Velvet climbed to her feet, then bent back down to heft up her suitcase. “Okay. Should I, um, say goodbye to your mom?” Velvet asked.

Akelarre tilted her head to one side as she considered Velvet. The rabbit faunus still looked a little nervous, but less so than that morning. For all that, there was no doubt in Akelarre’s mind that Salem had left a mark on the girl. “Nah, it should be okay.” The little sigh of relief that escaped Velvet didn’t go unnoticed.

“So, we’re going straight back to Vale?” Velvet asked as she followed Akelarre out of the tower and into the warm afternoon air.

“Hrm, not quite. We’re going to stop next to Vale first. There’s someone I want to talk to before we get back to the city. We should be back well before dark though. You won’t have to worry about missing classes tomorrow or getting in too late.”

“That’s fine,” Velvet said. “Who are we meeting? If, if you don’t mind the question.”

Suppressing a sigh, Akelarre slowed down so that she was next to Velvet, shoes still crunching on the gravelly ground as the pair moved towards the Bullhead landing area where their ride waited. All around them, more and more Grimmsects poured out of the Spire, most of them flyers, but some of the bigger ones hefting nets filled with squirming insects that were no bigger than closed fists.

“Velvet?” Akelarre asked.

“Yes?” Velvet’s instant reply came without stuttering, but the rabbit faunus was still fidgety next to Akelarre.

“You know that you’re my friend, right?”

Velvet swallowed and nodded convulsively. “Yes?”

Akelarre shook her head and stopped. Velvet took one more step before she too froze on the spot. “No Velvet,” Akelarre said. She raised a hand to touch Velvet’s shoulder, then reconsidered and let it drop. “I’m not really good at making friends,” she admitted. “But I thought we were getting close. And I know that you’re a bit shy, and that’s okay. It’s cute even, but I’d like to think that we’re close enough that you wouldn’t mind, you know, talking to me. I...” Akelarre let out a breath that was just shy of a sigh. “What I’m trying to say, is that you don’t have to be afraid of asking me anything, okay?”

“I, okay,” Velvet said.

“Really.”

“Okay,” Velvet repeated. She looked towards the bullhead, then back at Akelarre before her shoulders slumped. “I’m not really good at this either,” she said.

Akelarre placed both hands on her hips and glared at a point just above Velvet’s shoulder. “Fine, then we can both be bad at it, as long as we’re bad at it together, okay?”

Velvet stifled a sudden giggle behind a hand, but nodded. “Okay,” she agreed.

***

The flight had been uneventful. At least, everything after the take-off had been. Having a swarm that could blot out the sun hovering before and behind and above them was a little nerve wracking for Velvet at first, but it became obvious soon enough that Akelarre was making sure, somehow, that the Grimm didn’t fly directly into their path and that they kept a safe distance from their craft.

It was a calm flight, mostly.

Akelarre had started talking to fill the silence a few minutes in, mostly about the kinds of Grimmsects she had made and brought along. It was surprisingly soothing, hearing her... her friend talk about what were essentially crimes against humanity that she had crafted and imagined with the express purpose of causing as much mayhem as possible in as many creative ways as she could imagine.

Akelarre’s mind, Velvet decided, was a dark and scary place.

“We’re getting close,” Akelarre said as she straightened in her seat. She pointed to a small town nestled in a valley even as the swarms of Grimm insects around them started to disperse, most flowing down in huge tornado-like columns towards the forests below.

Velvet slowed down the Bullhead, cautious of both their speed and the need to find a place to land. Akelarre, meanwhile, was pointing towards a low of large houses set on a cliffside overlooking the small village. “It’s that one,” she said. “Next to the house Neo and I robbed.”

Velvet filed that for when she had her next existential crisis and pulled the Bullhead in for a vertical landing on the backyard of an estate that had probably cost someone millions of lien.

The Bullhead touched down with a jarring lurch and Velvet winced at the impact, but nothing seemed to be broken and the craft were made for a bit of hard use. She figured that it was probably not damaged.

“I found Cinder,” Akalerre declared. “She’s... sleeping.”

“Who is Cinder?” Velvet asked as she started to unbuckle herself with one hand while the other shut off the machine.

“Oh, she’s the person I wanted to meet. She works for my mom.”

“Ah, like mister Tyrian?” she asked.

Akelarre paused in the act of moving out of her seat. “Kinda, but less... everything.”

Velvet understood. Mister Tyrian was a lot of many things.

Akelarre hopped out of the Bullhead, then turned to give Velvet a hand. She took it, though she really didn’t need Akelarre’s help to jump down three feet.

Akelarre was sporting a grin as she grabbed Velvet’s hand and started pulling her towards the mansion, trampling across a manicured lawn without a second glance. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Emerald and Mercury too. They’re Cinder’s minions.”

“Minions?” That was alarming. Nice people didn’t have minions. Or work for Salem, Queen of the Grimm, or live in mansions positioned in just the right way to overlook an otherwise poor town from above.

Akelarre didn’t answer Velvet’s questions, instead leading her around a small garden path and past a pretty little gazebo until they were in the backyard proper of the mansion. There was, in fact, a pool and a stone terrace, a bubbling hot tub sitting right next to it and on a wooden patio that reached all the way towards the house, was a row of beach chairs.

“Cinder!” Akelarre called.

The woman who could only be Cinder was probably one of the prettiest girls Velvet had ever met. Long, smooth legs with just a bit of a tan to them leading to a torso that showed off abs that would make any huntress proud and a bust barely contained by a sky blue bikini. She would have been smoking hot, if her head wasn’t tilted back, mouth wide open and drool slowly leaking out of one corner while deep rumbling snores escaped her with every breath.

“She’s still asleep?” Akelarre asked.

“I guess,” Velvet agreed.

There was the thump-thump of someone running towards them and the couple turned in time to find a green-haired girl rushing onto the patio with wide eyes and a hint of panic in her gaze. Then she locked onto Akelarre and the panic twisted into an expression Velvet couldn’t even begin to decipher. “What are you doing here?” the girl said before adding, “Ma’am.”

“I’m here to talk to Cinder, but she’s sleeping,” Akelarre said over a particularly loud snore.

The green-haired girl looked at the woman that Velvet was beginning to suspect was her boss, stared for a moment longer than might have been appropriate, then pulled out a scroll. A couple of familiar shutter sounds later she was back to staring at her and Akelarre. “Give us a minute.”

Akelarre only had to tap Velvet on the shoulder and nod towards the house for the other girl to get the message and follow her into the mansion.

They navigated the huge home until they found one of the living rooms, this one occupied by a bored Mercury Black who was doing his best to pass the time while staring into the colourful abyss of a television screen. The cartoon playing was showing a few huntsmen in colourful garb killing cartoonish Beowolves with reckless abandon.

The boy looked up when she walked in, then continued watching his show for the three seconds it took for his brain to process what he had seen. With a lurch and a jump, he was out of the sofa and standing ramrod straight. “Ah, shit, uh, I mean, hello, Princess Akelarre, miss.”

Akelarre gave him a wave. “Hey Mercury. How are you?” she asked over the noise coming from the television.

“Die, foul monsters!” the knight on screen screamed as he cleaved an Ursa in two with a swing of his mighty cartoonishly large sword. The Grimm exploded into family-friendly, bloodless giblets.

“Hey,” he said as he discreetly bent down and picked up the remote. His thumb twitched on the volume control, but all that did was make a box will appear on the screen with numbers that rose along with the noise of Grimm pleading for the good guys not to slaughter them.

“I made some new bugs, would you like to see them Mercury?” Akelarre sked in a tone that was half innocent and half very much not.

The silver haired boy glanced both ways, as if seeking escape before replying with the tone of a person who knows they are giving the wrong answer, but feels that the alternative would be worse; "Ah... Nooo?"

“Grimm are for dying!” An enthusiastic child screamed before tossing a grenade into a pile of Beowolves. The Grimm all stopped to stare at the explosive with wide, idiotic eyes a moment before it exploded in their faces and left a few steaming, wolf-shaped platters of meat behind.

Mercury hurriedly pressed the power button and the television shut off with a click-humm. “So, tell me about your new bugs?” He asked.

“Well,” Akelarre started as a ear-to-ear grin crawled across her face. “I call them hugglebugs. They’re like spiders, only they can fly. Also, they can spread sleeping dust around them that makes you feel really good. Oh, and their basically built from the ground up to be really good at moving into people’s beds and hugging them while they sleep. Did you want to see one?”

“Um,” he said.

Akelarre waved whatever his response would be away. “Don’t worry. I was planning on staying here tonight. I can let one into your room at some point. It’ll be a surprise! I do love waking up with a nice big person-sized spider purring into my chest. It feels really nice.”

Mercury was not living up to his family name as his skin turned paler and paler with every word. Velvet had a hand pressed over her mouth and her shoulders moved with suppressed laughter.

Just as Akelarre suspected the boy was going to go have a sit, the soft thuds of footsteps behind her had her turning around in time to see Cinder, now wearing a loose button-up shirt over her swimsuit, glide into the room with the careless grace of a catwalk model.

The older woman smiled at her, eyes sparkling with reserved intelligence. “Akelarre. Emerald told me you had arrived. I’m sorry if I was a little indisposed. No one called ahead.”

Akelarre smiled right back. “No problem, Cinder. You looked really tired. I wouldn’t have pegged you for a snorer. You must be working so hard to need to take a nap at noon like that.”

The two women smiled at each other, pretty smiles, with lots of teeth.

“I have been working hard,” Cinder said lightly. “And how about you? Still dragging Roman and that little Neo girl around on hijinks?”

“Oh, no, we’re done with that,” Akelarre said. “We’re now in nominal control of the Vale underground. We just need to make it official, as it were.”

There was the slightest twitch at the corner of Cinder’s eye. “Well, well, you have been busy,” she said. “So, who is your companion?”

Wrapping an arm over Velvet’s shoulder, Akelarre turned the demure girl around to face Cinder. “This is Velvet, she’s my friend.”

Cinder bowed to Velvet. Not deep, just an inclination of the shoulders and head, but a sign of respect nonetheless and Akelarre allowed herself to relax a little. She didn’t want to be enemies--not quite enemies, maybe the word would be antagonistic--with Cinder. There was definitely something sister-like about the older girl that Akelarre didn’t know how to pin down.

It was nice. Not perfect, not great, but nice. A kind of friendly rivalry for Salem’s attention that she could really get behind as long as it didn’t go too far. And as long as she was winning too.

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Velvet,” Cinder said. “You seem far calmer than most friends Akelarre has made.”

“Thank you,” Velvet said, returning to bow with just a hint of awkwardness in her motion. “Akelarre is a really nice girl, and, um, a good friend.”

“Hrm, yes, I’m sure,” Cinder said. “So, should I ask how you two met? Did you rob anyone together yet?”

Akelarre suppressed a wince before Velvet had time to give her a curious look. “Nothing like that. Velvet’s a student at Beacon. Actually, she should be going back before it gets too late. But I wanted to talk to you, too. I think I could use your help with a few things.”

“I see,” Cinder said. “Perhaps Emerald could fly Velvet back into Vale? She is a passably good pilot and it would give us the time we need to talk.”

“Send Mercury,” Emerald said almost immediately. She gave Akelarre a look that failed to be inconspicuous, then shied away.

“I don’t mind,” Mercury said. “We can go together. In fact, we should go now. It would be a real shame to leave too late and have to spend the night in Vale. Real shame.”

Cinder met Akelarre’s gaze and as one they rolled their eyes. “Sure, you can both escort Velvet back,” she finally said. “That is, if you don’t mind, Velvet?”

“Ah, I don’t,” the rabbit faunus said with a shake of the head. “My things are already in the Bullhead.”

“Then all that’s left is to say goodbye, I guess,” Akelarre said. She raised her arms a little and tilted her head to one side.

With a small smile, Velvet stepped into Akelarre’s hug and wrapped her arms around Akelarre’s waist. It didn’t last for more than a heartbeat before she pulled back, but Akelarre would take what she could get.

“Bye,” Velvet said.

“Bye,” Akelarre replied.

She watched her friend leave the room, trailing after Mercury and followed by a rather dejected Emerald on the way out. Her bugs, the normal, non-Grimm ones, kept track of the trio as they moved through the house and out the side.

“So, did you want to go somewhere more comfortable to talk?” Cinder asked.

“Not particularly. Did you want to wear something more comfortable to talk?” she replied.

Cinder flashed her a dangerous smile. “Not particularly,” she said before sitting at one end of the couch Mercury had occupied. “You needed my help with something?”

“Kinda,” Akelarre admitted as she flopped onto the far end of the couch. “I have been getting some results taking over Vale’s underworld, but it started to cost me a whole lot of Grimmsects. So Velvet and I ran back to the Grimmlands to make more. That’s not what I need help with though. I took out the Knights. A group of thugs and sellers, the biggest group in Vale. The Suits work for me now. Or, well, they still work for Junior, but he might be kinda sorta a little afraid of me. Don’t know why. Never did anything to him.”

“I’m sure,” Cinder said flatly.

“Uh-huh. Anywho, Tuesday evening, all the leaders of the Knights various, um, sub-gangs I guess you’d call them, are going to meet at the The Vale View Luxury Dust Hotel.”

One of Cinder’s delicate eyebrows rose. “And you want to crash their party?”

“Crash it?” Akelarre asked before shaking her head. “No, no. I’m the one that set it all up. Well, Roman helped. But basically it’ll be a meeting to lay down the new laws, as it were. You know, scare them into submission, threaten them with fates worse than death, then show them the carrot of how good things can be if they just follow your lead. The usual.”

“I see,” Cinder said as she shuffled closer to the edge of her seat. “And you want me to help? I am rather good at speech writing, if that’s what you want. Or do you just need another pretty girl following at your heels?” the last was delivered with a straight face and no inflection, but Akelarre still got the impression that Cinder wasn’t pleased with the idea.

“No, no, I want you to be the carrot to my stick. I scare them, and you offer them a deal they won’t want to refuse.”

Cinder considered this for a moment. “It won’t take up too much of my time?” she asked.

“Hrm, not too much.” Akelarre said. “You might have less time to work on your tan.”

Cinder didn’t even have the courtesy of blushing.

***

Long chapter is Long.

Big thank-you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Three

“You sure you don’t want to come?” Akelarre asked one last time.

Neo just turned her head away, pout still firmly in place as she refused to meet Akelarre’s pleading gaze. The shorter girl’s arms were crossed and her posture was ramrod straight in her seat. She would have looked quite serious if her cheeks weren’t puffed out so much.

“Fine,” Akelarre said. She wasn’t in any sort of mood to argue with her friend, especially when it was clear that Neo thought that Akelarre was the one in the wrong. And to be fair, she sort of was. Neo was most disappointed that Akelarre hadn’t invited her over to her home. Then again, Akelarre was kind of glad.

She did not want Neo and Tyrian in the same room. Ever. 

“I’ll be off then,” she said before pulling a letter out of her cloak. “I need to deliver this to Beacon before tomorrow, or I won’t have time to do it later.”

Neo paused in her pouting to gesture first at Akelarre, then at her own clothes.

“My clothes?” Akelarre guessed and Neo had the decency to nod. “What’s wrong with them?” she asked as she looked down at her white blouse and cargo pants.

Neo rolled her eyes and finally deigned to stand up. She stomped over to Akelarre and tugged at her cloak, then mimed putting on handcuffs.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess my cloak is kind of distinctive,” Akelarre mused. “I can’t just go out and buy more clothes though, I’ll be spotted buying them, you know?”

Neo’s mouth twisted and she leveled a flat glare at Akelarre before huffing and walking off to one corner of their VIP room. There was a little closet there that the shorter girl disappeared into for a moment. When she came out it was with a jacket in hand, one that was obviously too big for her. 

Neo tossed it at Akelarre who caught it with only a bit of a fumble. “Is this for me?” she asked.

The snort Neo gave was answer enough. She walked back to her couch and flopped down, pulling out her scroll as she did so. Akelarre caught Neo glancing her way from the corner of her eye while she pretended to be on her scroll. 

Dismissing Neo’s weird behaviour for a moment, Akelarre took off her cloak and set it on the back of a chair before trying on the jacket. It was a tiny bit snug around the waist, but that only made her look slimmer as she zipped it up. The jacket had a big hood that covered her entire head and a good part of her face too. The material creaked a little as new leather was wont to do. “This is really pretty,” Akelarre said. “Did... did you buy this for me?”

Neo folded her legs up and brought her scroll closer to her face. It only served to illuminate the tiny spots of pink on her cheeks.

“You didn’t have to!” Akelarre said. Her cheeks were starting to hurt because of how hard she was smiling.

Neo gave her the finger and huddled closer to her scroll, so Akelarre did the natural thing and skipped over to give Neo a tight hug. When Neo started kicking and punching Akelarre only held on tighter and rubbed her cheek against Neo’s, much to the shorter girl’s consternation.

“Thanks Neo, you’re a great friend,” Akelarre said as she let go and watched Neo roll to the opposite end of the couch where she glared back. “I have to go, but I should be back by tonight, okay?”

Neo huffed but nodded before Akelarre had made it to the door.

Akelarre was planning on leaving via the back of The Club, through one of the exits out into the alleyways of the industrial sector where she could then walk over to a bus deeper into the city. She was moving her overwatch bugs from one rooftop to another when a figure caught her mind’s eye and she slowed her walk within The Club to a crawl.

Forehead creasing, Akelarre navigated some of her smaller, less conspicuous bugs to the figure, noting almost immediately that the girl, because at that height and with that figure it had to be, was talking to herself. No scroll, no device around her ears, just a low monotone.

Things started to make less sense as she paid attention to the girl’s clothes. Trench coats were popular in vale, and her fedora, while a horrible fashion choice in Akelarre’s opinion, was perfectly reasonable accessory. The pipe in the girl’s mouth was not. 

Akelarre did what she always did when faced with something strange: she brought in more bugs. 

A few Grimmsects along the lip of the roof, some normal bugs swarmed closer as if inspecting some tasty trash. Nothing that even an observant person would give a second look unless they were specifically aware of her. 

The girl was no different, she just kept walking down the alleyway on a direct course towards the far end where she would only be one turn away from The Club’s entrance. 

“Penny's Journal. September 9th, 0712. Hot dog carcass in alley this morning. Tire tread on burst corndog. This city is afraid of me. I've seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters, and the gutters are full of yucky stuff, and when the drains finally scab over all the vermin will run away. The accumulated filth of all their naughtiness will foam up about their waists and all the bad guys and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save us!’ and I'll whisper ‘Nope.’”

Akelarre decided that the girl was probably not dangerous, just a little bit off, and she wasn’t about to start throwing stones from within her glass house. 

With a careless shrug that only the Grimmsects hidden on her person noticed, she made her way to the first floor and opened one of the access doors at the back of the building just as the girl was passing by.

She stopped, trench coat flapping around her black thigh-high boots. Akelarre’s red-rimmed eyes met the girl’s startlingly bright green ones. “Hey,” Akelarre said. “You okay?”

The girl's face split into a wide grin and she raised one hand in greeting. “Salutations, citizens. I appreciate your concern, but I am merely working my beat, looking for clues about the worse criminal scum in this city.”

Akelarre nodded slowly. “Okay,” she said for a lack of better things to say. 

“indeed, fine citizen,” the girl said before reaching into her jacket and pulling out a wallet that unfolded to show a badge. “I am a detective with the VPD.”

Akelarre nodded again and stepped out into the alleyway. Her trip would be faster travelling by there anyway. It wasn’t until she was close to the girl that she realized that the little redhead was quite small, only coming up to her shoulder at most and had the kind of round cheeks and guileless look Akelarre had only ever seen on Ruby. “How old are you?” she asked.

“Weeks or months?” the girl asked.

Akelarre chuckled. “Nevermind that,” she said, dismissing the question with a wave. “You shouldn’t be in an alleyway, especially not in this part of the city, and especially not alone. It’s dangerous. You never know what kind of person you might run into.” And playing dress up as a cop of all things was a terrible idea.

“Thank you for your concern, citizen, but I am combat ready!” the girl said.

Akelarre looked at her with one eyebrow rising, a look she had received from Salem more than once when she said something strange. “Where are your parents?” she asked.

“My dad is in Atlas,” the girl said, not even hesitating to answer. “He will be coming here soon.”

“And your mom?” Akelarre pressed.

“I have no mother.”

She winced. “Oh, I’m sorry. I know what that’s like. Do you have any friends around here?” It most certainly wasn’t her responsibility to help some little girl back home, but if no one else was going to do it Akelarre figured she could at least try to do the right thing.

The girl finally looked down and away from Akelarre. Her constant, unblinking stare suggested that she wasn’t all there, but Akelarre’s last question had hit a nerve as far. “I have no friends in the region. Though I did try to make the acquaintance of the nice officers of the VPD. I am, after all, their coworker!” 

“Uh-huh,” Akelarre said. She set her Grimmsects to searching for any nearby police cars. Maybe she had been talking to an office before? They would certainly be able to help her back home.

“This situation is acceptable,” the girl went on. “I did not have any friends in Atlas either. Only my father.”

“Oh.” Akelarre brought her hands together, then let them fall to her side. “I’m sorry to hear that. Not having friends is... hard. I got lucky and made a few good friends when I started exploring. Maybe the same will happen to you?”

The girl blinks slowly at Akelarre as if processing that. “Sensational! Perhaps in my quest for more clues about the hideous monster known as the Grimm Girl I shall encounter new and exciting people to aide me and become my friends.”

“What was that about a Grimm Girl?” Akelarre asked.

“I am Detective Penny Polendina,” the girl said. “I am searching for clues about the mysterious Grimm Girl. Do you with to assist me and also become my friend?”

It was Akelarre’s turn to take a moment to process, though Penny didn’t seem to mind waiting at all. She just reached up and fiddled with the pipe still stuck between her lips. There were no cops nearby, no concerned parents and no one other than a few workers heading to and from work. “Tell you what, Penny, how about you fill me in on your... case so far, and we’ll see where we can go from there?” 

Penny’s face lit up and her eyes literally brightened at the suggestion. “Extraordinary! I will tell you all I know of my case, and you will become my loyal sidekick.”

Akelarre snorted. “I don’t think I have it in me to be a sidekick. I’d rather be the hero.”

“I have read every article about heroes,” Penny boasted. “If that is your goal I can assist you. I am PR ready.”

Akelarre couldn’t help but grin. Penny seemed like a nice girl, though she really shouldn’t have been left alone to play detective in the rougher parts of Vale. “Sure, but tell me about this case of yours first. And why you were in this area.”

“May I answer the questions in reverse order?” Penny asked.

“Sure,” Akelarre said with a shrug.

“I am in the area to question members of the criminal element about any involvement they might have with the Grimm Girl. Initial reports suggest a possible link between changes in criminal behaviour and the appearance of the Grimm Girl.”

Akelarre nodded. “That actually makes sense. Though aren’t you afraid of talking to criminals? This area is patrolled by the Suits, they wouldn’t hurt you without answering to Junior, or worse, me, but it’s not that wise to be out alone here.”

Penny stared at her for a moment. “Your words suggest a possible link between yourself and the criminal enterprise known as the Suits.”

“If I was part of that group I probably wouldn’t admit to it, now would I?” Akelarre said.

Penny’s eyes widened and her mouth formed a little ‘o’ of surprise. “Then how would I discern your possible membership to the group?”

“You could ask.”

“But you would answer in a negative fashion in both instances, leading me to suspect that you are, at best, not a member or, at worse, a member and also a lying liar who lies.”

Akelarre giggled and nodded. “Exactly. You catch on quick.”

Penny didn’t pout, but the look of consternation she wore almost had Akelarre reaching out to ruffle the girl’s hair, even if it was an ugly shade of ginger and she was wearing that hideous fedora. 

“Say, Penny, I’m going into Vale to deliver a letter. Did you want to come with me?”

Penny shook her head with the same monotonous movements of a metronome. “I cannot. My duties as detective require that I stay here and look for clues.”

“Ah, but if you come with me,” Akelarre said. “I could tell you all sorts of things about the criminal underworld of Vale. Wouldn’t that help you build your case?” If telling the girls a few whitewashed facts would get her out of the slums, then Akelarre was more than willing to talk.

“Sensational!” Penny clasped her hands together over her chest and nodded. “I would love to accompany you, citizen, on your important task if it means learning more about my own mission.”

Akelarre grinned. “Call me Akelarre.”

***

Big thank-you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty-Four

There was something weird about Penny. 

Actually, that might have been an understatement. There were a few things about Penny that didn’t add up. For one, her behaviour and way of dressing hinted at a less than ideal childhood or maybe a disorder of some sort. That could all be explained away. 

The lack of motion from breathing, the surprisingly low temperatures across most of her body, and the fact that Penny only blinked once a minute were harder to explain. 

Still, she was enjoyable company as Akelarre walked deeper into Vale and towards the centre of the city, her new friend walking shoulder to shoulder with her and asking pertinent questions. 

“So,” Penny said, and Akelarre was beginning to recognize the girl’s way of speaking that took in everything she said, then redigested it into easier to understand packages. “The criminal underworld of Vale is not to blame for their own criminal actions. The issues that cause these actions are instead systematic and are caused by a lack of resources in the lower economic spectrum of Vale society.”

Akelarre shook her head from side to side in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “Not quite. Some, yes. When regular work isn’t enough to support you or your family, and taxation is high enough that it interferes with your ability to live comfortably, a lot of people will turn to under the table work for sustenance. They aren’t necessarily criminals in that they don’t want to cause harm, even if they are breaking the word of law.”

“But breaking the law makes you a criminal by definition,” Penny argued. Judging by the ear-to-ear smile, she was enjoying the talk as much as Akelarre was.

“Maybe,” Akelarre said. “But that’s the kind of criminal that society can live with. If you fight that kind of low-level crime too hard you’ll just breed resentment. On the other hand, you have criminals, what I would call actual criminals, who do things like sell drugs, steal, run extortion rackets or who use their wealth to hurt others in order to benefit themselves. They’re doing actual harm to the rest of Vale because of their actions, and aren’t in a position where their actions can be excused because of necessity.”

“I think I comprehend,” Penny said. “Does that mean that certain criminal factions are more dangerous than others? They do crimes that are more criminal than other criminals?”

“You shouldn’t measure the threat of a faction based on how criminal they are or aren’t. The Knights were probably some of the worst criminals in Vale, but they were taken care of by a single person over little more than a week. Whereas the Strays, a group of faunus right supporters are hardly criminal at all other than the occasional protest against shops and companies that discriminate against the faunus, and yet they are far better equipped and trained for fighting, some of their members being ex-White Fang and all. Societal threat and actual threat are not the same thing.”

Penny stared off into space for a moment. “My records do not contain any information regarding the destruction of the criminal group known as the Knights. Though I have overheard from some VPD officers that they are acting in a way that does not fit their usual modus operandi.”

Akelarre eyed Penny from the corner of her eye as they split apart to move around a lady pushing a stroller. “That’s because,” she said when she rejoined Penny. “Your Grimm Girl, which I still think is a silly name, took care of the Knights. She disbanded the group.”

Penny gasped. “My initial assumption that the change in the status of Vale’s underworld and my own case was link was correct? Sensational!”

Grinning, Akelarre nodded along to Penny’s enthusiastic rambling. “Why did you start your... case in the first place?” she asked.

Penny paused for the barest of seconds before answering. “Because I was asked to investigate.”

“I see,” Akelarre said even though she didn’t, not yet, at any rate. “And why were you asked to investigate, instead of someone else?”

“I cannot disclose that information,” Penny said, sounding genuinely sorry.

Akelarre placed a hand on Penny’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She made sure to only smile as she looked Penny’s way. Either the girl was all skin and bones under her coat, or her shoulder was definitely not normal. “It’s okay, Penny, friends sometimes need to keep things from each other, right?”

“Friends?” Penny repeated.

“Yeah,” Akelarre agreed easily. She started sending out some of her faster bugs ahead. The pair were nearly at the Bullhead depot that Akelarre wanted to visit. It was also, fortunately, one of the busier sections of the city, with malls and stores and the familiar square where she had met Ruby some time ago not two blocks away. Her bugs sensed at least three police officers patrolling the region and she was sure it wouldn’t take much effort to find more.

“I have never had a friend before,” Penny muttered.

Feeling her heart crack, Akelarre stopped next to Penny and turned the shorter girl around so that she was facing her. “Okay. So we have options. I don’t like leaving you here alone, but I have things to do. So you can either come with me and I’ll watch over you for the rest of the day, or you can show me where you’re staying tonight. That would work too. Either way... do you have a notepad and pen?”

Penny nodded and pulled both out from an inner pocket of her trench coat. “I am note-taking ready.”

“Right,” Akelarre said before reeling off a series of numbers. “That’s my phone number. You can call me at any time if something is going on, okay?”

“I understand, friend Akelarre.” Penny looked up from her notepad. “Why do you call it a phone?”

Akelarre winced. “Okay, good. So did you want to come with me?” she gestured with a nod towards the Bullhead docks behind her. “I just need to do a couple of things, then I’ll be heading back to The Club.”

Penny shook her head. “That is okay, friend Akelarre. I must go and report my findings for the day.”

“Ah, okay,” Akelarre said. “Then it’s goodbye for now, I guess.” She raised both arms for a hug and waited.

And waited.

Penny stared at Akelarre’s arms, then back up to her face. “I do not understand.”

“Penny, don’t you know how to give a hug?” she asked.

“Negative.”

“Never?” Akelarre asked with mounting horror.

Penny, perhaps sensing the revulsion Akelarre was feeling at the idea, shook her head again and clarified, “I have never received or given a hug before. Though I have consumed media on the subject of hugging and other such sexual actions.”

“Hugging isn’t sexual,” Akellare said, a dusting of pink fighting onto her cheeks. “It, it can be, but it usually isn’t. It means that you like and care for someone. I... Penny, can I give you a hug?”

“Are you implying that you like and care for me?” Penny asked.

“Of course. You’re my friend. A new friend, but a friend nonetheless,” Akelarre said.

Penny nodded solemnly. “In that case, engage hugging protocols, friend Akelarre.”

With a growing smile, Akelarre wrapped her arms around Penny’s shoulders and squeezed her tight. “You’re supposed to hug back,” she said, her head resting against Penny’s. 

Surprisingly strong arms wrapped around Akelarre’s waist and squeezed. “Like this?”

“Exactly!” Akelarre said. “You’re a natural hugger, Penny.”

“My internal temperature is rising at an alarming rate,” Penny said. “Is this normal.”

“Yes,” Akelarre decided after a bit of a think. “It’s probably okay.” She let go of Penny and the girl did the same after a second’s pause. “So, how was it?” 

“It was wonderful,” Penny said with all the genuine happiness of a puppy being given leftovers. 

“Good!” 

“More than good. Sensational. Marvelous. I must engage in more hugging.” Penny raised her arms again. Laughing, Akelarre allowed herself to be swept into another rib crushing hug.

Akealrre was still laughing when Penny finally let go, but her expression didn’t come close to matching the joy Penny was radiating. “I have to go,” she said. “But call me, for anything, including more hugs later, okay?”

“Understood,” Panny said. “Can I engaging in hugging activities with others?” Before Akelarre had time to process the question and find a proper answer, Penny turned around, took her pipe out, and used the stem to point at a young man who was passing by. “Greetings, citizens! I am Penny Polendina and I wish to engage you in hugging and other such friendly activities.”

The man didn’t even say anything, he just slowed down his march along the sidewalk and went the wide way around Penny while eyeing her suspiciously.

“My attempt has failed. But I shall persevere.”

“Penny,” Akelarre said. “I think you should limit hugging to friends only. And family too.”

“Does that mean that you are my only sustainable source of hugs on Vital?” Penny asked.

Akelarre sighed. “Okay, you know what. You’re coming with me.” Reaching out, she grabbed Penny by the hand and started for the Bullhead docks.

“Where are we going?” Penny asked as she kept up with Akelarre.

“We, my dear Penny, are going to deliver a letter.”

“To whom?”

Akelarre grinned over her shoulder. “Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon.”

***


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty-Five

Beacon was really pretty from the air. In a city like Vale, where the walls drew hard lines on where one could and couldn’t build, it was normal that as soon as space ran out, room for new buildings was at a premium.

Vale was, in essence, rather cramped.

They made up for it with nice decor and well lit roads, but it was still a city that didn’t have room to expand.

Beacon, on the other hand, had an entire plateau to itself, and it showed. The front lawns were long trenches with grass and flowers and trees all in neat, orderly rows, little stone-paved passages running through them.

The buildings themselves had a sort of whimsical, fantasy feel to them, all high arches and white walls that glimmered in the noonday sun. Wide, inviting doors lead into the school proper, the passages almost all used by students talking or walking or play fighting in a display of youthful eagerness that had Akelarre aching to join in.

Their Bullhead, one of the commercial sorts that taxied people around for a fee, landed without so much as a bump, the pilot’s bored expression changing not one whit as he turned to look at his two passengers. “We’ve arrived,” he said with the tone of someone being paid too little for his work.

“I noticed,” Akelarre said before opening the craft’s door and hopping out. She extended at hand to Penny who had to be careful not to let her trench coat trail too far behind her as she disembarked.

“This is very exciting,” Penny said as she took in the school. At Akelarre’s behest, she had tucked her pipe into one pocket and folded up her hat in the other, so her hair was free to whip in the wind as they moved away from the Bullhead and towards the school proper.

“It is,” Akelarre said. “So, I have that latter to deliver, but I kind of want to meet my friends first.”

Penny nodded eagerly. “This is an acceptable detour. Friends are good.”

“They are,” Akelarre agreed. “I think you’ll love Ruby. She’s very sweet, and looks to be about your age, I’d guess.”

“I doubt that,” Penny muttered.

“And there’s Velvet. She’s super nice. But a bit shy, so try not to come on too strong around her, okay?”

“I understand,” Penny replied.

Grinning, Akelarre started moving towards the school proper, her hood up and her new jacket snug around her waist. She waved at a few students, all of them in their burgundy uniforms who stared at her and Penny with open curiosity. Some even waved back.

“I can see why Ruby likes it here,” Akelarre said. “The people seem really nice, for people who spend their lives training to kill Grimm.”

“I have never been to school before,” Penny commented idly.

Akelarre almost missed her next step. “You haven’t? But, uh, you do know how to read and write and about history and math, yeah?”

“I do!” Penny said.

“Okay, good,” Akelarre said. She didn’t try to hide the fact that she didn’t really think it was all that good, and Penny didn’t try to catch on either. “I don’t actually know my way around the school,” Akelarre said. “We’ll have to find someone and ask for directions.”

“What about her?” Penny said as she pointed off to one side. “Her hair is similar to mine and she looks friendly.”

The girl Penny was pointing at was superficially quite similar to Penny. Short, red hair, green eyes. Dress Penny in the Beacon uniform, and Akelarre figured they could pass as siblings. The redhead was gesturing wildly as she spoke, another mannerism that would wouldn’t be out of place with Penny. Her teammates, or at least three people that seemed willing to endure her enthusiasm, were sitting on some benches off to one side, soaking in the sunlight as it filtered through the branches of a tree.

Before Akelarre had time to really come to a decision, Penny was off towards the ground, one arm raised and waving above her head. “Salutations, potential friends and hug partners. I am Penny and this is my best friend Akelarre. We are searching for other friends.”

“Hi!” the redhead said before imitating Penny’s wave. Even the other-other redhead, a very pretty woman sitting next to a blonde boy, gave a bit of a wave in return.

Akelarre was beginning to think that there were maybe too many redheads around.

“I’m Nora, this is team Juniper!” the first redhead said as she pointed to her teammates. “That’s Jaune. He’s single and ready to mingle. That’s Pyrrha, she’s also single and mingleable. And that’s Ren. Touch him and die.”

“What Nora means,” the boy she called Ren said as he laid a hand on her shoulder and looked at them with eyes as filled with as much excitement as a cow’s after a heavy meal, “Is that we’re team JNPR, and we’re pleased to meet you. You said you were looking for someone?”

“You seem to disagree with potential-friend Nora. Does this mean I can touch you?” Penny asked.

Ren blinked slowly. “I would rather you didn’t.”

“Not even hugs?” Penny asked as she tilted her head to one side. “I never got a hug from a boy before. Are they more special? Do you want to be my first boyfriend?”

Nora’s genuine, happy smile started to take on a distinctly sharp look.

Akelarre sighed and stepped up between Penny and the team. “Sorry, Penny just really likes hugs. Actually, we’re looking for either Velvet Scarlatina or team RWBY.”

“Velvet... she’s in team CFVY, yeah?” the blond boy asked. “I don’t know where she is, sorry. But team RWBY is probably training right now. That’s what they do when classes are over. Well, that or argue.”

“That sounds like them,” Akelarre admitted. “Any idea where I can find them?”

Jaune shrugged. “Their room is down that hallway, then to the right and up the stairs to the third floor. It’s the one with the big sign on the door that says ‘Do Not Disturb.’”

Akelarre nodded along to the directions. Her bugs had already found the room. It was easy enough to track Ruby’s scent through the halls of Beacon and it was especially concentrated around Ruby’s room which was in a state of disarray that made her own room look perfectly respectable in comparison. “Thank you. I appreciate the help,” she said. “Penny did you want to come, or did you want to stay?”

Penny considered the question for a moment. “I will remain with you, friend Akelarre. Girlfriends should stick together.”

“Um,” Akelarre said. She turned to team JNPR to find that Jaune was blushing, Pyrrha had a hand clamped over her mouth and Nora looked lost. Ren, on the other hand, seemed completely unruffled. “Right, we can talk about that on the way there.”

***

Blake was... Blake wasn’t sure. On the one hand, her secret was out and her team seemed perfectly okay with it. Even Weiss, who she thought would have the biggest problems with her Faunus heritage was taking it in stride. The Schnee heiress was more worried about Blake’s family name than her cat ears.

On the other hand her team didn’t know of her ties to the White Fang, ties that she hadn’t really broken. Ties that could come around to bite her at any moment. Ties that lead her to know who, exactly, Akelarre was.

She shuddered at the memory of the girl they had met at that club just a few days ago. She had been all smiles and good cheer, the very image of a friendly young woman meeting new people. It was a perfect disguise for the killer that she was underneath, for the monster in the skin of an innocent girl.

And that act had caught Ruby hook line and sinker.

“You okay, Blake?” Ruby asked, her wide silver-y eyes staring at her like a puppy looking up to someone that had a raw steak stapled to her forehead. “Are you cold? Is it because your tummy is exposed?”

Blake rolled her eyes. “I’m fine,” she said.

Ruby hopped ahead of her and started walking backwards. “Are you sure?” she asked again. “I don’t want you getting a cold. Do Faunus get special colds?”

Weiss snorted. “Faunus are biologically similar to humans, Ruby, they won’t get any illnesses that you won’t. You really ought to research Faunus biology a little if you’re going to have one as a teammate.”

Yang tilted her head to one side, long cascades of blonde hair tumbling around. “I thought some Faunus needed, like, vets to care for their animal bits.”

Shaking her head, Weiss raised one hand with her index pointing at the ceiling. “First off, Faunus specialist doctors are a thing. Second, do you have any idea how racist you sound when you imply that they have to go to a vet for medical care?”

Blake didn’t trip over her own feet, but it was a near thing. She gave Weiss a look. The kind of look her mother gave people to cow them into submission. The kind of look that had made Sienna Kahn pause for a moment and rethink what she was saying.

“What?” Weiss said, sounding rather defensive as the look persisted.

“Your family runs the SDC. You enslave Faunus and make them work to death in mines surrounded by Grimm. Accusing others of racism is.. I don’t know if irony is the right word here.”

Weiss’ chest puffed out. It was not an impressive display. “We don’t enslave anyone. They’re paid reasonable wages.”

“They’re paid in company scrip. It’s worthless.” Blake’s eyes narrowed. “And you wonder why your family is so hated by the Faunus.”

Weiss had the decency to blush and look away. “I don’t like it any more than you do,” she said. “But I can’t change it, not until I’m in control of the damned company.”

Blake hummed to herself and turned away from Weiss. Unfortunately that brought her line of sight onto Ruby who had jacked up her puppy dog eyes to eleven. “Please don’t fight,” she begged.

“W-we’re not fighting,” Blake denied.

“Don’t be silly, Ruby, we were only--” Weiss cut off as she turned and was caught in the radius of Ruby’s look. “Were only discussing the future of our respective families.”

“You know, maybe I could help?” Ruby said. “I’m sure we could help all those poor Faunus, and if the Grimm stop hurting the SDC they could hire people properly.”

“And how, exactly, do you intend to pull the Grimm away from distant mining sites?” Weiss asked. “It’s difficult enough to keep huntsmen around to clear out the occasional migration, I can’t imagine how you would clear them away.”

“I could ask Akelarre,” Ruby said.

Weiss snorted. “I don’t know what kind of trick or illusion that girl showed you Ruby, but she does not control the Grimm, no one does.”

Blake and Yang shared a glance but neither wanted to pop the heiress’ bubble just yet.

“Akelarre isn’t a tricky person. She’s really nice. And she’s my best friend. So there.” Ruby crossed her arms and stomped a little for a few steps.

“Hey, what about me?” Yang shot back.

“You’re my sister, it’s not the same.”

“Yes it is!” Yang was quick to defend.

Sensing that things were going to escalate, Blake picked up the pace. They were almost at their dorms. The siblings would be just as loud, if not louder in their rooms, but at least Blake would be able to tuck herself into a pile of blankets and read a bit while they fought.

“She gives better hugs than you,” Ruby said.

Yang’s crestfallen expression had both Weiss and Blake rolling their eyes in synch. Blake was the first to arrive at their dorm, picking up the pace considerably when Yang gestured towards her chest and said, “Did you see these girls? They’re made for hugging.”

Flashing her scroll across the door handle, Blake unlocked the door, pulled it open and stepped in.

She froze.

A girl was sitting on Yang’s bed, legs kicking out to an unknown rhythm while her arms were stretched out above her to hold out a book. A book with an orange cover. The looked up, hood falling back and onto the bed to reveal terribly familiar red eyes that bored into Blake. “Hi. This is your book, right? It smells like you.”

Blake took a step back and closed the door. “Hey guys, let’s... let’s go somewhere else,” she said. In the back of her mind she wondered if her mom would let her have her old room back on Menagerie.

***

Big thank-you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven’s Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You’re all completely insane, but I like you anyway.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Akelarre!” Ruby said as she saw her best friend laying down on Yang’s bed. She stepped over Blake, who for some reason decided to flop onto the ground right by the doorway, and used her semblance to shoot across the bedroom and into the air above Akelarre.

She saw Akelarre’s eyes widen a second before she crashed down on her with a glomping tackle. Akelarre’s breath left her in a cough, but she was quick to start laughing and poked Ruby in the ribs to get her off. “Hi Ruby!”

“What are you doing here?” Ruby asked as she rolled over to sit on her knees atop Yang’s pillows. It was then that she noticed the other girl in the room, a short redhead with bright green eyes who was staring at her and Akelarre while writing down something in a notepad. She was sitting at their desk the same way Weiss sat, with her back straight as a board and legs out just-so.

Akelarre sat up too and waved at the rest of team RWBY. Yang waved back, though she had a hard time since she was busy lifting Blake in a bridal carry to deposit her on Weiss’ bed. She huffed before turning a pouting glare on Akelarre “How’d you get in our rooms?”

Akelarre raised both hands in surrender, but her smile never wavered. “Peace. I just unlocked the door from inside. I didn’t want to be stuck waiting in the hallway for you guys to arrive. Also, are they okay?” She pointed at Blake, who was still napping, and then at Weiss who was rocking back and forth on her heels in the doorway.

Yang pressed a hand on each temple, then gave up on that and pulled Weiss into the dorm room and shut the door.

It was growing a little cramped, what with six girls in one small-ish room.

Ruby felt the weight of responsibility pressing down on her again, and just when she was starting to have fun. “Give me a minute, then you can present us to your new buddy,” she told Akelarre before hopping off the bed.

With a few steps she found herself between Weiss and the rest of the room, then she grabbed her friend by the shoulders and slowly turned her around so that Weiss was facing the door and away from all the others. “Weiss, are you okay?” Ruby asked.

“She’s real?” Weiss said.

“Yes Weiss, she’s real,” Ruby said. “She’s also super friendly and nice and she won’t eat anyone. Right Akelarre?”

“No eating nice people,” Akelarre said while giving them a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, Weiss, I love making new friends.”

The redhead at the desk took more notes, the scribble-scribble of her pen the only noise in the room for a while. “Okay,” Weiss finally said. “But I want a full accounting when this is done. Whatever this is.”

“Sure,” Ruby said easily. She turned back towards the others and saw that Blake was sitting back up with Yang’s hand holding up up and rubbing circles into her back. “Is Blake okay?”

“I’m fine,” Blake said.

“Is it because I touched your books?” Akelarre asked. She raised one of Blake’s books from off the bed. “I’m sorry about that. I was just curious about why they were hidden so well.” A touch of pink appeared on Akelarre’s cheeks. “I, I think I know why now, though.” She put the book back down.

“Just, just don’t hurt the books, okay?” Blake said.

“I would never,” Akelarre reassured her.

“Okay! We’re all friends again!” Ruby cheered.

Akelarre laughed along with her and the tension in the room bled out a little. Then Akelarre snapped her fingers as if remembering something and pointed to the quiet redhead. “I almost forgot! Everyone, this is Penny Polendina. I met her today. She’s a friend.”

Penny stood up in a flash, then bowed at the waist. “Salutations!”

“Hi!” Ruby said as she gave the girl a warm smile. Learning that Akelarre had a bunch of friends who weren’t Ruby didn’t hurt. Not at all. “Any friend of Akelarre is a friend of mine,” she said.

Penny stood back up and raised her hands, then lowered them. She looked for a moment like she was completely lost for words. “So many friends. So much hugging.”

Akelarre snorted and patted the bed next to her. Ruby started to move, but then Penny beat her to it and sat down primly next to Akelarre. “So, what’s going on with team RWBY this week?” Akelarre asked.

Ruby didn’t glare at Penny because Penny looked like a nice girl. Instead she walked over to Weiss’ bed and sat down next to Blake. “Not too much. Oh, well, Yang and Weiss were put in charge of the Beacon Dance.”

“You guys have dances?” Akelarre asked. “That’s neat. Did you all find dates yet? You shouldn’t have any trouble since you’re all very pretty.”

As one, every member of team RWBY found something interesting to stare at, like the floor, or the ceiling, or their own knees.

“Ah,” Akelarre said. “Sorry?”

Yang snorted and waved it off. “Nah, it’s cool. Weiss and I are busy organizing, Blake is a Princess and that means she can’t just go out with anybody and Ruby is, uh, well, she’s my little Ruby.”

Ruby might have been reluctant to glare at Penny, but she had no such restraint against glaring at her silly big sister. “A-actually, Akelarre,” she said. “I, I was wondering if, maybe, if you’re around, and aren’t too busy, if you’d maybesortawannagowithme?”

“Sure!”

A bubble of giddy giddiness bust in Ruby’s tummy and she felt herself smiling until her cheeks--which were rather warm--started to strain. “Awesome!”

“Ruby!” Yang protested. She was really red. Redder than Ruby had ever seen Yang go. Even redder than that time Yang and dad had had a talk about hiding her toys so that Ruby couldn't find them. Which Yang must have listened to because she spent a long time looking and never found any toys in Yang’s room.

“What?” Ruby said, and she didn’t even sound petulant at all, not even when Blake and Weiss and even Penny gave her considering looks. “You’re just jealous that I get to go to the dance with a real life princess.”

“I’m not jealous,” Yang said. “I’m, I’m... very proud that you, uh, asked someone out, like that.” Yang seemed to be at a bit of a loss for words.

“You’re totally jealous,” Ruby said, her blush was fading, replaced by the routine of years of sisterly banter.

“No I’m not,” Yang said.

“Uh huh,” Ruby said right back. “You’re jealous cause I was brave enough to ask someone out and she’s a princess on top of that.”

Yang continued to go red until her ears were burning up too. Weiss winced in sympathy and even Blake patted her sister on the shoulder in a show of support.

Ruby One, Yang nil.

“I could totally ask someone out!” Yang shouted right back as she jumped to her feet, fists balled by her side.

Akelarre and Penny were watching the show with avid interest, like pedestrians looking up to see two bullheads ram into each other.

“So, ask someone then,” Ruby challenged. “I did, and she said yes. I bet we’re going to have tons of fun together, and we’ll dance, and, and we’ll...” Ruby started to feel lightheaded again.

“Will you engage in recreational hugging?” Penny asked.

“Yes. That.”

“Fascinating,” Penny said.

“Fine then!” Yang said, her voice just shy of a shout. She turned, finger pointing right at Blake who leaned back and away from the assauling index. “Blake, we’re going to the dance together.”

Blake blinked. “What.”

Ruby huffed and jumped to her feet. It was her turn to be indignant. “That’s not how you’re supposed to ask,” she said.

“Yes it is,” Yang said.

“Nu-huh.” Ruby shook her head for emphasis. For once she was the sister with more experience. Sorta. “You’re supposed to tell her that you really like her, and that she’s a good friend, and that you want to have a fun night together.”

“And engage in recreational hugging,” Penny added.

Ruby nodded. “And that.”

Yang sputtered for a moment. “You didn’t say anything like that to her!” she said, finger swinging around in a long arc to point at Akelarre.

“It was implied!”

Yang’s entire body shook. “Okay, fine.” Stomping her foot, she turned to face Blake head on.

“Please no,” Blake said.

“Blake, you’re my partner, and my best friend. An even better friend that my annoying brat of a little sister. Would you--would you do me the honours of going out to the dance with me?”

“No.”

“There!” Yang said as she turned to face Ruby, arms crossed over her chest and head held high. “I asked and she said yes. I get to go with a princess too.”

“I said no?” Blake added.

“Fine then,” Ruby said.

“Yeah,” Yang replied.

Penny raised a hand in the air like a little schoolgirl. It was a small motion, but somehow everyone in the room was focused on her within seconds. “What about myself and Potential-Friend Schnee?” Penny asked.

Akelarre hummed, looking between Penny and Weiss. It only took one look for Ruby to get the same idea. She turned to Yang, then gestured with a nod towards Penny, then towards Weiss and got an approving nod from Yang.

Blake just sighed. “Keep me out of this one,” she said.

“Keep you out of what?” Weiss asked. “Why are you all giving each other looks?” Ruby saw the moment she caught on, her head whipping around to stare at Penny, then at the rest of the girls. “No, no, I’m okay. It’s better that I go alone. After all it wouldn’t do for someone of my family to... wait, no, that’s rude. I mean, I think I’ll be too busy to properly enjoy the dance with someone.”

“What does she mean about someone from her family?” Penny asked Akelarre.

Even Ruby covered her face with her hand.

Akelarre hummed. “It’s because she’s from a very rich family. I think it would reflect poorly on them if she went to the dance with just anyone.”

“Ah,” Penny said. She turned towards Weiss. “My uncle is James Ironwood. General of Atlas. Does that make me eligible for hugging and dancing?”

“Your... your uncle is Ironwood,” Weiss said. She sounded a little faint.

“He is. He said so himself,” Penny confirmed. “We are very close.”

“And if I say no, you’ll be reporting it to him, of course,” she added.

“I tell the general everything, yes,” Penny said.

Weiss bent forwards, face falling into her open palms as she muttered to herself. None of the words Ruby caught were very nice. “Fine. I suppose I shall be going to the dance with you. But don’t get any ideas.”

“Spectacular!” Penny enthused.

“So, we all have dates?” Akelarre asked. “That’s great! Ah, but it’s getting a little late.” She nodded toward their window where the setting sun was starting to dip behind the trees of the Emerald forest. “I kind of have to go.”

“Already?” Ruby asked.

Akelarre shrugged one shoulder in a ‘what can you do’ sort of way. “Sorry. But I didn’t come here just to see you guys. I do have some things to take care of. But I’ll see you guys soon, yeah? If not, well, there’s always the dance!”

***

Akelarre felt like humming as she left team RWBY’s rooms, so she did. A happy little toneless song that went well with her skipping steps. Penny followed after her, staring and taking notes on her little notepad as she kept pace with her.

“That was very amusing,” Penny said as Akelarre lead them out of the dorms and towards the front offices.

“It was! Are you happy you made new friends?” Akelarre asked.

“I am,” Penny said. “I cannot wait to tell uncle Ironwood and dad about new friends Ruby, Yang, and Blake.”

“What about Weiss?” Akelarre asked. She couldn’t help but indulge in a little gossip gathering. Penny and Weiss looked like they would make a cute couple. Penny was very down to earth, or was that Remnant, and Weiss had a whole lot of drive. Plus they were both short and that somehow pleased Akelarre’s sense of aesthetics.

“Girlfriend Weiss seems very nice. I will research her properly before our date at the Beacon Dance. I will be sure to pleasure her thoroughly.”

Akelarre felt some warmth climbing to her cheeks but dismissed it as they reached the main lobby and followed a sign into an elevator that lead to the headmaster’s office. “You can take your time, Penny. You wouldn’t want to push her too quickly. That would be... Rude.”

“I will acquire her consent,” Penny said.

“That’s... wonderful.”

The elevator doors dinged as they opened and both girls found themselves in an opulent office space. It was long and wide, with a huge window taking up the entire outside wall and revealing a picturesque view of Beacon, the cliffs over the Emerald forest and a large part of Vale proper in the distance.

A majestic wooden desk covered in papers took up the far end of the room, behind which a man in a green jacket sat with a cup of something halfway to his lips. His eyes widened behind round spectacles as Akelarre walked into the office and crossed it until she was standing over his desk.

She reached up and pulled back her hood to reveal her widest, most happy smile. “Hi! You’re Ozpin, right?” she asked.

The man didn’t answer for a few long seconds, but fortunately Penny was there to help her. “His biometrics match that of Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon,” she said.

“Brilliant!” Akelarre reached into her cool new jacket and pulled out the letter Salem had entrusted her with. She placed it on the desk next to an unfolded blueprint. “This is from my mom, Salem, the Queen of the Grimm, ruler of Remnant, and all those other titles that I can’t remember.”

“What?”

She nodded, her job done and was about to turn away when she noticed the name on the top corner of the blueprint. “Oh, hey, that’s the hotel I rented for tomorrow’s meeting.” She eyed the other papers, schedules for employees, the names of some of the people she had invited, what looked like the rough outlines for infiltration and extraction plans. “I’m sorry, Mister Ozma, but you do know that you’re not invited, right?” She looked him in the eyes, smile still firmly in place. “It would be a real shame to have something I worked so hard to plan interrupted. No one likes surprises.” She smiled grew a little toothier. “On that note. I’ll be seeing you.” 

She walked back into the elevator and pressed the button to go back to the first floor.

Ozpin was still holding his mug up in the same position he had when she entered the room as the elevator doors shut. “So, Penny, did you want me to drop you off at your place, or would you rather have a sleepover at The Club?”

***

Every so often you get the opportunity to cram all the jokes in one chapter instead of sprinkling them out across the narrative. It’s like ordering some poutine only to get more curds than fries. This is one of those chapters.

The ship name for Penny X Weiss is IT  
For Blake X Yang is Bumblebee  
And of course Akelarre X Ruby is Escalation Acceleration


	41. Chapter 41

Bonus Chapter: Lisa and the Grand Army of the Empire

This is set a few years after the events of the main Princess storyline. It’s also hideously non-canon.

***

Alelarre looked at the device with a critical eye. All the golden arches and strange, bulbous metal... things seemed alien. They probably weren’t, but something about the design, the curves and almost organic shape of them gave her the impression that whomever built the machine wasn’t used to the more squarish and utilitarian design of... of just about everything else.

“So, how does it work?” she asked, tilting her head to one side to inspect the machine properly. The main archway, surrounded as it was by golden poles, was still big enough for some of her larger Grimmsects to squeeze through.

Salem raised one imperious eyebrow towards her daughter and then gave the device a rather pointed look. “Well, daughter mine, the mysteries of magic are deep and horribly complex. If, perhaps a certain young woman that lives under my roof would spend more time at home studying with her dear mother instead of off gallivanting who knows where with strange women she would have begun to dip into the deeper secrets.”

Akelarre rolled her eyes, the very image of a teenager that had been enduring too much mothering for the day. “Just because you’re jealous that I spend time with my friends doesn’t mean you should be so... queen-y.”

Salem pointedly failed to huff. “I am Salem, Queen of the Grimm.”

“You’re Salem, jealous Queen of the Grimm,” Akelarre shot back. She felt a little bad when her mom looked away from her and crossed her arms. Sighing, Akelarre walked away from the archway and up to Salem’s side. “Sorry?” she tried.

“I’m terribly sorry, in my old age it seems as though my hearing is failing me. What was that?” Salem asked.

Akelarre pulled Salem’s arms apart and positioned herself well within Salem’s bubble before lowering her mom’s arms back down around her shoulders. She tucked her head in the crook of Salem’s neck. “Sorry.”

Salem didn’t hold back the huff this time. “Did you think some half-hearted hug would be enough for me to start spilling my secrets?” she asked.

Akelarre looked up, her eyes as wide as they would go and wet with unshed tears. They glowed a faint, warm red, like the setting sun seen through stained glass. Her lower lip wobbled and her arms tightened around Salem’s waist.

“Curses,” Salem whispered. “Very well.”

Akelarre giggled as she stepped away from Salem. “Do it!” she said.

Taking a deep breath, Salem set her mind onto the old ways, then paused. “Who, exactly are we searching for, daughter mine?”

“Tattletale. Her name is Tattletale.”

***

Lisa was leaning with one shoulder against her desk, papers strewn across it with disparate titles, printouts of recent news articles and reports from across the city. The work of a leader laid out in not-so-neat bureaucratic papers.

Then the world twisted, and with a sucking that pulled at her from somewhere behind her navel, she was no longer at her desk.

“She’s here!” a voice, a voice that tickled her with its familiarity, shouted from off to her side a half second before she was unceremoniously grabbed in a tight hug.

“Well, seeing as things went well, I will be in my study,” another voice said, this was a low, sibilant murmur that was at once the sexiest voice Lisa had ever heard, and had the kind of smooth authority behind it she at once associated with someone powerful. Like Alexandria or one of the better presidents.

“Aww, but mom, don’t you want to meet Tattletale?” the one crushing Lisa into her chest said.

“Perhaps later, dear. Do stop by.”

Lisa was just reaching for the gun tucked up under her coat, the kind of gun that any self-respecting not-a-warlord carried, when both hands were grabbed and raised. Brute, her mind instantly informed her, or if not a Brute someone exceptionally strong. “Oh, it’s so good to see you again, Lisa.”

Lisa’s heart skipped a beat.

“Taylor?” she whispered.

The hands let go of her wrists only for Lisa to find herself engulfed in a bear hug, head pressed up against the nook of the girl’s neck. “You remember me!”

Lisa felt her arms going limp by her side. It wasn’t possible, part of her said. Another part wished it were true, but years of cynicism, cynicism that was usually right, told her to verify before trusting. “Can, can you let go of me?” she asked.

She was instantly freed, the girl that might have been Taylor taking a long steps back, but kept one hand on Lisa’s shoulder, as if she was afraid of letting go completely.

Lisa looked into eyes that were almost familiar, then she let her gaze wander. The face’s structure was right. The same wide eyes, the same large mouth with thin lips. The hair was as she remembered it, though perhaps a little longer now than the way Taylor had kept it. It was the skin and the colour of the eyes that was all wrong.

“The Taylor that I remember didn’t have black veins,” Lisa pointed out.

“Well, I died a little. But I got better.” She laughed, and it was just right, the same self-deprecating chuckle that she had heard so many times around Taylor. “I’ve got a whole lot to show you.”

“Where am I?” she asked. If this was Taylor, she would be free with information, probably. It had been... had it been years? Lisa felt her heart straining. She had always wished, hopped, that Taylor was out there somewhere.

“We’re in the Spire, in the Grimmlands, on a planet called Remnant,” Taylor explained. “I’m sorry if I took you away from your work, I could send you back later, or, or right now, if you really don’t want to be here.”

Lisa shook her head. “Taylor, what happened?”

“Ah, that’s a bit of a story,” Taylor said. She gestured deeper into the room. “Come on, this room’s drafty. There’s a sitting room or two the next floor up.”

Lisa followed, still wary, but curious. Her damned curiosity was going to end with her in deep trouble one day, she knew. She followed Taylor out of the room and found herself in a long, winding corridor that curved slightly on both ends. Probably to circle around something, she figured.

With the same easy grace Taylor had developed as she grew into her power, this Taylor led her down the corridor, then up a spiralling stairwell made entirely of black stone. The corridor the next floor up was the same, only this one had huge stained glass windows allowing colourful light to spill into the room. She paused by one of them and fold a piece of glass that was transparent enough to see through.

The world outside was a blasted hellscape of crystalline towers and rocky craters that had started to erode a long time ago. Pools of black water dotted the stony ground, hidden in the shadows cast by a stormy sky. And there were monsters. Creatures that walked and skittered in the shadows or stood brazenly in the few spots of light piercing through the clouds.

She sure as hell wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

“It’s this one,” Taylor called back. She was gesturing to an opened door with both arms, a rather dopey smile on. Lisa couldn’t quite tell if she was just excited and reverting back to the energetic girl she had been before life shat on her, a girl Lisa had seen very little of, or if Taylor was putting on an act to make Lisa more comfortable.

The room was the sort of opulent that Lisa had seen so many would be kingpins and villains try to emulate. Dark purple drapes next to oil paintings, soft light coming from candles held in silver sconces and a pair of couches set one before the other with only a gilded table between them.

She sank into one of the couches, the fluffy material giving under her weight. Taylor sat across from her, adjusting the legs of her cargo pants to make herself more comfortable. “So,” Taylor began.

“Yeah,” Lisa said. She realized that she was in a bit of shock, but the realization didn’t help all that much. “How?” she asked. It was probably a good place to start.

“Right, so, you remember Scion?” Taylor asked.

“I would be hardpressed to forget,” she deadpanned right back.

Taylor nodded. “So, I kinda killed him, but I wasn’t in the best shape after that. I don’t remember what happened right after. My memories have been... fuzzy, for a while. I couldn’t remember my name for a long time. But anyway. I was found next to a place called the Pools of Darkness.” Lisa could hear the capitalization in the name.

“Found by who?”

“Mom,” Taylor said. “Well, I call her that. Her name is Salem, queen of the Grimm, ruler of Remnant and so on.”

“Remnant is the... country we’re in?” Lisa asked.

Taylor shook her head. “The planet.”

Lisa blinked. That was something. “Okay. So... she adopted you?”

“Yeah, actually,” Taylor said. “She controls the Grimm, who control the world. I can control them too, and I can make them. It goes with the whole, black veins, red eyes thing.”

Lisa reached out across the divide between them as if to touch Taylor’s cheeks, but stopped. Taylor grabbed her hand gently by the wrist and guided it over to her cheek. She ran her thumb over one of the veins, feeling the lumpy skin beneath. “You’re cold.”

“A bit,” Taylor said before she smiled and let go of Lisa’s hand. “Um, our snacks are here,” she said.

The door slid open soundlessly and a beetle walked in. It was tall enough to reach Lisa’s shin and carried a silver tray balanced on its back. Smaller insects, though still far larger than anyone sane would be comfortable with, helped drag the tray from the beetles back to the table.

Taylor hummed as she leaned forwards and poured two cups of tea.

“You really are Taylor,” Lisa said. The appearance could be faked, the bugs less so.

“Obviously,” Taylor said. “Didn’t your power tell you as much?”

“It did but, but I wasn’t sure,” she admitted. Reaching out, Lisa took her cup of tea and blew across the top to help it cool down. “So, now what?”

“Ah, well,” Taylor began. “What I really wanted was to get in touch, see how you were doing, tell you that I was, well, alive. And maybe show you off to my other friends. You’re going to love them... like them... you’ll like most of them.”

“So you opened a portal between dimensions for tea and crumpets?” Lisa asked. She couldn’t hide the amusement in her tone. It was so very Taylor to not allow something as small as being in the wrong dimension to stop her from getting what she wanted.

“How was I to know that you weren’t in trouble, that you didn’t need help?” Taylor asked. “My life here has been nice, really nice. Remnant is a quiet world. It’s very green, and very alive. The population, of humans at least, is tiny compared to Earth Bet. No wars or anything like that. Well, not since I got rid of the last rebellion.”

“Rebellion?” Lisa asked. Her teacup hovered close to her lips. She had the answer already, her power filling in all the horrible gaps.

“Come on, Lisa, I’ve been here for years. You didn’t think I wouldn’t take over the planet, did you?” Taylor was almost chastising.

“Of course not,” Lisa deadpanned. It only earned her a smile. “So, this is your retirement? Rule an entire planet, mind your business. Have tea with friends?” She couldn’t help but sound a little wistful at the end.

“Ah, well... I was kind of hoping that you still needed me. I’ve been directionless for a little while. Nothing,” she paused, then made a big, expansive gesture. “Nothing huge to do, you know? I just hang out with my hare-- my friends, and we go shopping and go to the beach and have fun, but nothing big.”

“I wouldn’t say no to a bit of help,” Lisa admitted. She decided not to poke at the harem comment, yet. Her shoulders sagged a little. “It’s been a mess trying to get everything in order, trying to process the refugees, the new capes, the lack of proper governments. But unless you have an army to lend me, there’s only so much I can ask for.”

A gleam entered Taylor’s red eyes and Lisa felt her stomach plumet. “Come, follow me!” she said as she jumped to her feet.

Dread mounting, Lisa followed Talyor out of the room, then down a corridor and up another staircase. They climbed for some time, Taylor in obviously better shape than Lisa as she took the steps without so much as breathing hard.

By the time they were where Taylor wanted, Lisa was almost panting and she could feel sweat pooling at the base of her back. “Ah, I’m sorry. I’m too used to having friends who have their aura’s unlocked,” she said.

Lisa’s curiosity was piqued, but Taylor didn’t leave her time to question it. Instead, she pulled Lisa by the wrist to a balcony jutting out of the side of the Spire.

Lisa’s breath caught.

The outside of the castle-like building she had seen was all desolate wasteland and crawling monsters. She realised now that that had only been the one side. The back, or perhaps the front, was a flat expanse of levelled ground as far as the eye could see, only broken up by squarish buildings set at even distances.

That was all well and good. It was what occupied that space that had her swallowing back rising fear.

Bugs. Not normal insects but creatures the size of men, others as big around as cars and more that were bigger still. Some looked like praying mantis, if they had been designed from the nightmares of a psychopath, others were eight-limbed and sleek, others still stood like lumbering brutes, looking unmovable and still like chitinous monoliths.

Beetles, like Taylor’s long lost Atlas stood with cannons mounted to their backs, and some of the smaller insects held rifles tucked against their shoulders.

The sea of black bugs stretched out towards the horizon. And above them floated giganting monstrosities of bulbous sacks and too many eyes. She caught something cutting through the gloomy sky and looked up in time to see a flight of dragonflies buzz by with the same speed and grace as fighter planes.

Airships, honest to god airships, stood frozen in neat rows across the sky, painted in pitch black and bristling with weaponry.

“How many?” she asked.

“Here? Well, this is one of our favourite places to be, and I like making more bugs here. Only about half a billion infantry,” Taylor said. She eyed Lisa for a bit, then grinned before facing her army. Each bug stood in perfect formation, neat rows that were so straight they fooled the eyes. “About face,” Taylor said.

The movement of so many limbs was like rumbling thunder in the night.

“So, if you ever need anything,” Taylor said as she turned a brilliant smile upon Lisa. “You just have to ask. I don’t forget my friends.”

***

Commission token: Spent!

A huge thank-you to my friends and patrons who allow me the time to write this kind of story and who are always there to help bounce ideas and poke fun at my shoddier work. I love you guys!


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Neo glared, brows coming together, lips puckering, the corners of her eyes pinching into two thin lines and her entire body shifting forwards.

Penny, from her position on the ground next to Akelarre, stared right back. Bright green eyes literally glowing up at her from where she was tucked with a blanket up to her neck. She smiled at Neo.

Neo glared harder, placing her fists on her hips and spreading her legs shoulder-width apart for extra emphasis.

“Salutations,” Penny said, her voice a low whisper. She lifted one hand out from under the blankets and waved. “You are awake,” Penny declared. “Akelarre said that you were her best girlfriend. Can you enlighten me on this? I too wish to be the best girlfriend.”

Neo glared extra hard, the redness in her cheeks only adding to it.

Then Akelarre, whose face was pressed up against Penny’s belly, snorted and shifted her head a little as if trying to bury herself deeper into Penny’s side.

Penny didn’t seem willing to move. Neo could sympathise, if Akelarre was using her as a pillow she would also be afraid of waking her up. Not that she would ever admit that out loud, or could admit it out loud for that matter. Neo moved over to the pile of blankets strewn across the floor, stepped over a spilled bowl of popcorn and a pile of girly magazines until she was standing next to Akelarre in her nest of pillows. She crouched down and shook the girl’s shoulder.

Akelarre blinked awake, drowsiness gone between one blink and the next as red eyes focused across the room, and finally locked onto Neo. “What’s going on?” she asked.

Neo gestured at her wrist where a watch would be if she was some sort of corporate pleb who cared about the time. She gestured towards the door, then at Akelarre’s clothes, which were little more than flannel pyjama pants and a T-shirt that was a few sizes too big.

“What time is it?” Akelarre asked.

Penny, still laying down and staring at the ceiling like the world’s worst body pillow, spoke up, “It’s three fourty two PM. VST.”

Akelarre yawned. “Oh. Oh shoot!” She jumped to her feet. Or tried.

Neo, who was standing on the blankets next to her, suddenly found her feet being yanked out from under her as Akelarre tried to pull her covers off. She twisted, landing on her back in a roll that had her back on her feet a few paces away and scowling at Akelarre who stumbled off towards the bathroom. “I need to get ready!” she called.

Penny looked at her go, then stared up towards Neo. “Last night was very enjoyable, friend Neo,” she said. “I particularly enjoyed our conversations about males, the nail painting rituals and the consumption of frozen treats.”

Neo nodded. That had been a good conversation, even if Akelarre had to translate her enthusiastic admissions about the joys and glories of ice cream. Maybe, Neo reasoned, Penny had a place in the harem. As something akin to the harem’s pet dog, or something.

Nodding to herself, Neo sidled over to where Akelarre was tugging on her pants one handed while using her tentacle arm (so much potential) to button up her shirt. “Is Cinder here already?” she asked between hops.

Neo shook her head. She hadn’t seen the woman in a while. It was probably for the best. Cinder didn’t seem to like her all that much.

Akelarre hesitated over her cloak and the jacket Neo had stolen for her, then shrugged and tossed the cloak around her shoulders. “Better keep my identities in order, yeah,” she said.

“May I enquire as to where you are going?” Penny asked.

Neo turned to find that the girl was fully dressed. The t-shirt and pyjama bottoms she was wearing folded next to the equally folded blankets they had been sleeping on.

“Nope,” Akelarre said as she pulled her hood up.

“I understand,” Penny replied without a hint of sadness.

Neo was beginning to think that Penny was a little strange.

Akelarre froze, then turned her head as if looking down and towards the front of The Club. “Cinder just arrived,” she said. Adjusting her shirt and belt, she made sure she was presentable, then rushed across the room and grabbed Penny in a tight hug. “I’ll see you later, okay Penny. If you need anything, feel free to ask Junior. He’s the tall one.”

“Good bye,” Penny said when the hug was over. “Neo is going with you as well?” she asked.

“She is!” Akelarre said.

Penny nodded, then turned towards Neo with both arms raised for a hug.

Neo pouted. She wasn’t about to let herself be hugged just like that. Neo was the one who hugged, not the other way around.

Penny kept staring at her.

With a huff, Neo moved over to Penny and wrapped her arms around the (slightly) taller girl’s waist. Penny’s own arms were crushingly strong, but Neo didn’t complain. She did cop a feel on the way back and the only protest was some confused blinking on Penny’s part.

Akelarre grabbing her wrist and started pulling her along. Akelarre waved over her shoulder at Penny on exiting, and reluctantly, Neo did the same. “I’ll see you later Penny! Stick around if you want. My bugs are telling Junior that you’re a friend, so you should be alright.”

“I understand,” Penny said. “Though I do not know what insects you are talking about. Would it be permissible to return to my home now? I need to report to my father and the General.”

“Oh, uh,” Akelarre said as she paused by the door. “Yeah, I guess. Tell Junior to get you an escort back home.”

“Very well. Good bye girlfriend Akelarre and friend Neo.”

They left with a flurry of Akelarre’s cloak and rushed down the stairs at a speed that was just short of a tumble. “Cinder’s waiting, and she doesn’t look all that patient. Oh, and she has that Adam guy with her.”

Neo shifted her hand until Akelarre let go of her wrist, then with a quick snatch she grabbed Akelarre’s hand properly and slid her fingers between Akelarre’s.

“Oh, right, you don’t know who that is, do you?” Akelarre asked as they made it to the first floor and started towards the front of the dancehall. She pointed with her other hand where two people were standing. Neo recognized the woman with the long legs and the red dress as that bossy woman that she had met the same day as Akelarre. The guy next to her was new. Tall, with a white Grimm mask affixed to his face and with a pair of horns partially hidden by wavy hair giving away his faunus heritage. “That’s Adam Taurus. He’s some big wig in the White Fang.”

Neo nodded. Of course Akelarre was on a first name basis with terrorists. It made perfect sense. They probably asked her for advice on how to terrorize.

“Hello Adam, Cinder,” Akelarre said.

“Hello Akelarre, Neo,” Cinder returned.

Adam, for his part, sneered at Akelarre, then turned his ugly look onto Neo. She tightened her grip on her parasol at the same time as the faunus tightened his over his sheath. They stared at each other for a moment before Akelarre stepped in between the two. “Introductions! Adam, this is Neo. Neo, this is Adam.”

Neo nodded once. Adam looked full of himself, but he had the air of a fighter to him.

The boy scoffed. “Another human. What dull company you keep.”

Neo noticed Akelarre’s smile widening and felt a cold chill run down her spine. A very hot cold chill. As if someone was running a spoonful of ice cream down her naked back.

Akelarre stepped back and gestured at Adam in full, as if presenting him to Neo. “Adam here runs a failing terrorist cell that never gets what they want,” she said with the same smile. Adam’s chest puffed out in indignation, but she turned and gestured at Neo before he could protest. “Neo here is my best friend.”

Neo didn’t preen under the sudden attention because she wasn’t that immature.

Akelarre’s grin turned a little feral. “Neo kills people. It’s her hobby.”

Neo preened a little.

Adam looked a little pale at that, so Neo comforted him by smiling right at him, and then she made her eyes turn the same vein-y red as Akelarre’s and the big bad White Fang boy took a step back.

“Actually,” Akelarre said. “What is Adam doing here, Cinder?”

The Cinder woman ran a hand through her hair and let it tumble past her shoulder in a silken waterfall. “Oh, this and that. We can talk about it on the way, if you want.”

Akelarre nodded easily and Cinder turned to lead the way. By some fluke of good timing, Neo ended up next to Adam as he followed them. She looked way, way up at him, her smile never faltering.

“Stop that,” he growled at her.

Her smile grew, but what Adam saw was her teeth getting longer and sharper and her mouth splitting all the say up to her ears. He edged away from her.

The car waiting for them out front was more of a limousine, a long sleek thing that didn’t belong in the part of Vale they were in. That Mercury boy who worked as Cinder’s mook opened the back door for them and bowed a little as Akelarre slid into the back seat, followed by Cinder then Adam and Neo.

She bounced a little on her seat and took in the interior until her eyes fixed on a minifridge built into the consol between benches.

She was horribly disappointed when she found a lack of ice cream within. Akelarre caught on to her disappointment and tried to make it better by patting the spot next to her. Neo ignored that and plopped herself down on Akelarre’s lap. The bouncing of the car over potholes made the whole thing much better.

Akelarre started running her hand through Neo’s hair and Neo tucked her face into Akelarre’s neck as a reward.

“So, Cinder, Adam?”

Cinder shifted so that one leg rested over the other. “Indeed. I reviewed your... take over of the Knights and I must admit that I am very impressed. But I realized that you wouldn’t have the manpower to keep things as they are. Your alliance with the Suits will keep the peace in parts of Vale, but they won’t extend too much pass the territory they already control. They just don’t have the bodies to keep things going. The demand for narcotics are rising, thieves have lost contact with their resellers and quite a few thugs who worked for the Knights are now directionless.”

“Yeah, that’s what the meeting today’s for,” Akelarre said. “We need to get things rolling again.”

“Indeed. I just thought that the best way to do that would be to bring in some experienced personnel that are already loyal to us. I called in a few... favours, and here we are.”

“That’s very generous of you, Cinder,” Akelarre said.

“Isn’t it?” Cinder replied.

Neo felt rather than heard Akelarre sigh. “Is there anything I could do to help you in return?”

“Well, now that you mention it,” Cinder said. “I could use some help sneaking into Beacon.”

“Couldn’t you have asked yesterday? I was just there.”

Cinder looked at Akelarre, a complete lack of expression on her face. “Had I known,” she finally said. “Do you intend to return?”

“Well, yeah.” Akelarre frowned in thought for a while. “Actually, I might have an idea. Do you know how to dance, Cinder?”

“I do,” Cinder replied. She was beginning to sound just a little worried.

“Hrm,” Akelarre hrmed. Her leg bounced and Neo felt herself bumping up and down with it. Akelarre’s eyes locked onto her own. “Hey, Neo, do you like parties?”

***

Neo is basically a cat.

A huge thank-you to my friends and patrons who allow me the time to write this kind of story and who are always there to help bounce ideas and poke fun at my shoddier work. I love you guys!


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter Thirty-Eight

“Okay, so,” Akelarre began. She was standing with hands on hips, her cloak pulled back behind her like a cape and her head turned up in a proud show of defiance. “This is going to be a very important meeting,” she declared.

Cinder nodded, Neo blinked like a disinterested cat and Adam blew air out of his nose like a bull. 

“Very important,” Akelarre added. “Super important.”

“Yes. We know,” Cinder said. She looked around the hotel lobby as if expecting something interesting to show up, but it wouldn’t happen. Akelarre already had bugs on everything and everyone and there were no distractions to be had. 

Which was too bad. The meeting was going to be boring. Just her, a few thousand bugs, maybe a couple of her newest creations and a whole lot of scared gangsters. Distractions would have been nicer. She contemplated creating a few then discarded the thought. 

With a sign, Akelarre said what was on her mind. “I don’t wanna.”

Cinder stared. Adam stared. Neo looked down at her scroll.

“What do you mean, you don’t want to?” Cinder asked. It was, apparently, her turn to place her hands on her hips. 

Akelarre sniffed right back. “It’s just so boring. Take over the criminal underground, take over the city, conquer the planet, blow it up. I’ve done it before and it’s not... fun.”

Cinder was developing something of a tick.

“So, that’s why I was thinking. Since you like this sort of thing so much, Cinder, I want to let you take the reigns here. Think of it as a, uh, test.” Akelarre nodded. “But don’t worry. I’ll be close... ish. My range is pretty big with my Grimmsects, so if things get weird just... scream I guess.” She smiled and placed a hand on Cinder’s shoulder. “I trust you.”

Cinder’s hands balled into fists by her side and the twitching in her eye didn’t stop. She looked, if Akelarre was any judge of character, a little conflicted. On the one hand, Akelarre was giving her exactly what she wanted. On the other, she was being given exactly what she wanted. 

“So, do you want it? Because I’d much, much rather take a walk with Neo.” She flicked her thumb over her shoulder at her short friend who finally looked up from her scroll at the sound of her name.

“Fine,” Cinder bit out. “But I’m taking Adam with me. I’ll need his mooks to properly take over the underworld.”

“That’s the spirit!” Akelarre said. “What you can’t handle yourself can be drowned in a deluge of smaller, weaker creatures until it suffocates to death. That’s how I handle most of the bigger problems in my life.”

Cinder twitched again. “Are you implying that I’m a smaller, weaker creature?” she asked.

“On that note,” Akelarre said while turning away. “Neo and I will be going now. Neo stole me a cute jacket, so I need to return the favour and find her something cute to wear too.” She pressed a finger to her chin. “I should also probably find out where she stole it from and pay them back.”

Neo scoffed behind her and Akelarre had a sinking suspicion that getting that information out of her was going to be a challenge. 

***

“We should attempt a preemptive strike.”

Ozpin gently swirled his mig and watched as the foam floating in the dark liquid spun around and around along the edge, stretching out but never catching up to its tail. 

“That would be foolhardy, James. We are far more likely to catch it off guard if we hit while they’re in the middle of their meeting.”

He sighed and stopped, letting the liquid settle before taking a long sip. It was lukewarm. He shouldn’t have been surprised, they had been out and waiting to move since just before the sun rose. He had bought a thermos, most of them had except for the poor saps following Ironwood, but that hadn’t lasted all morning.

“You’re forgetting that attacking during the meeting will put more civilians at risk, Glynda,” Ironwood said.

Ozpin looked around in time to see Glynda frown and then nod. “You’re right,” she admitted after a moment.

The other members of his staff were nearby. Bart and Oobleck chatting with the Schnee girl that had followed Ironwood around all morning with terse whispers. The soldiers took up the back end of the lot, still straight-backed and ready for action, but obviously flagging. He wondered how much longer it would be before one of them gave up on the pretense of discipline and went to find himself a seat.

The robots, and there were plenty of those, were better suited to standing motionless. 

Spending his morning in a parking garage that stank of industrial pesticides and burnt rubber wasn’t his plan for a good morning, but needs must. He couldn’t very well allow his staff to lead an assault against such a wily creature of the Grimm without attending himself. He could justify bringing a few teams of students even less, but here they were four teams of Beacon students, all hyped up on their own youth and ready to tangle with a creature they knew nothing about.

He took another swallow of his drink even if it was getting cold. Creature. He kept thinking of her as a creature. For all he knew that was the correct term. He could also be dead wrong. 

There was a weight in his pocket. Heavy, burning, cumbersome. It was on his mind every time he moved and it pressed against his chest or when he stood still for too long and allowed it to rise to the surface of his thoughts. 

He still hadn’t opened it.

“I said,” Ironwood’s voice cut past his thoughts. “We should prepare now while she’s out of the building.”

“Out of the building?” he repeated. Judging by all the looks directed his way, he had missed something important. “She’s not heading to the conference room?”

Glynda, as usual, had all the answers. “Her accomplices are. The Grimm Girl and one other are moving out on foot. They’ve left the hotel already.”

“Where are they headed to?” he asked.

Ironwood shook his head. “No idea. She didn’t do us the courtesy of calling out her plans so our informants could hear them. For all we know she’s heading to the council building to eat Vale’s leadership.”

“If only we were so lucky,” Ozpin said. He didn’t dare laugh at his own joke, but he did meet Ironwood’s eye and knew that it was shared. “Well then, let’s prepare to relocate this group. Your men can intercept her? You could act as the anvil to our hammer.”

“Hrm,” was Ironwood’s reply. “I’ll see to it. We’ll have to coordinate with our eyes in the air. It’s out in the open so tracing its path will be a damn sight easier.” He snapped around and looked at Winter. The girl was instantly at attention. “Prepare to move out on the double. We’ll have to position ourselves while the target is on the move.”

“Yes sir,” Winter said. She turned and moved over to the soldiers, her voice growing quite a bit firmer and a whole lot colder as she started ordering them about. Soon the quiet of the garage was interrupted by shuffling feet and excited murmurs.

“We should head out too,” Glynda said. “If we’re truly going to act as the hammer then we’ll need to be able to move in quickly. Oobleck was already on the line with the VPD. We’ll see to clearing the area of civilians as quickly as possible.”

“That’s a good idea. It wouldn’t do for a citizen to be hurt by a stray Atlesian bullet, even if it was in the defence of the city,” Ironwood said.

Ozpin nodded along. “Can you take care of that for me, Glynda? Thank you.” He turned to Port and gave the man a quick nod. “Watch over the students would you? I have a little last minute thing to look into.”

He walked away, ignoring the looks at his back as he moved towards one of the stairwells leading to the upper floors. He needed a little privacy for what he wanted to do. 

The hotel lobby, when he arrived, was quite empty. The staff having been reduced to a skeleton crew that was ready to leave at a moment’s notice. That was fine by him. Ozpin moved to a corner occupied by a few couches and low tables, an area where the sun’s light, filtered by a small indoor garden, splashed yellow and gold across pristine furniture.

He sat, taking weight off aching feet.

Even now he hesitated before sliding a hand into his jacket and pulling it out.

The letter was inconspicuous. The sort of parchment that might raise a few eyebrows, but that wasn’t beyond the reach of anyone with enough lien to spend. His name, his real name, was scrawled on the front in a hand that was at once hurried and yet beautiful. Four letters, but enough that he recognized her hand.

He broke the seal with his thumb and unfolded the letter.

Ozma,

I have grown tired of killing your pets. They offer neither entertainment nor reward. Not even the thought of hurting you by proxy brings me joy. I have found other pleasures.  
Unfortunately it has come to my attention that my daughter has grown rather attached to some of them.  
In light of this, I'm calling a cease fire for the next century or so while she gets through this 'I like people' phase. I suspect that she will still find amusement for some time with the mortals you so enjoy surrounding yourself with. I admit that seeing her happy is reason enough for me to abstain from wiping humanity from the world for now.  
Do me a favor and don't do anything deifically stupid in the interim.  
Were you to hurt so much as a hair on her head there would not be any number of gods that would prevent you from feeling my wrath.

Sincerely, 

Salem

Queen of the Grimm,   
Ruler of Remnant, etc, etc,   
You know who I am

“Ah,” he said as he realized that not opening the letter sooner might, perhaps, have been something of a mistake.

***

Akelarre stared.

The big man in the white trench coat stared right back.

Neo pulled out her scroll and started browsing a fashion site for one of the local chains. She was looking for sweaters.

“Could you repeat that?” Akelarre asked. She reached up to scratch her nose, but that made all the soldiers, and there were quite a few of them, twitch. She let her hand drop and allowed a tiny fist-sized bullet ant to crawl out from her collar to rub the itch away with its teeny-tiny mandibles. That didn’t seem to help any, but she was beyond caring.

“You and your accomplice there,” he said, then paused as Neo looked up and pointed at herself, her head tilting to one side. “Are both under arrest.”

Akelarre looked back down the path she had been walking, then back to the man. “Did we jaywalk?”

“Under the authority invested in me by the nation of Atlas, I am placing you under arrest. Please do not resist,” the big man said.

Akelarre tilted her head to the side, a frown creasing her brow. “We’re in Vale,” she said slowly, as if explaining it to a child. “Why would your Atlesian authority matter?”

She never let her gaze wander from him, but her bugs were seeing plenty. Plenty of soldiers and bipedal robots, that was, all of them standing in a semi circle before her or using the nearest buildings and cars for cover. A few VPD officers were around too, though not nearly as many as she would have expected. Those were focused on moving the civilians away.

The man grit his teeth. “Surrender now or I will have to make you.”

With a snort and a dismissive wave, she ignored him. “You and what army?”

He stared at her, then gestured at the thirty or so soldiers who looked like they were just waiting for an excuse to start shooting at her. “This one.”

Akelarre smiled. It wasn’t her smile, but one she borrowed from her mom when the woman was talking about the good old days where she crushed armies underfoot. “That’s not an army, mister,” she said.

The air filled with a low thrum. Cars honked, alarms rang.

A siren started to wail in the distance. Its cry growing louder, more desperate with every passing second.

“Let me show you what an army looks like.”

***

A huge thank-you to my friends and patrons who allow me the time to write this kind of story and who are always there to help bounce ideas and poke fun at my shoddier work. I love you guys! And a manly nod to CrasySith who helped a lot with this chapter.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“If you think that Atlas will bow to threats from a foreign agent, you are most assuredly wrong,” Mister Ironwood said. 

Akelarre stared at him and held back a sigh. Neo, on the other hand, didn’t have nearly as much restraint. She rolled her eyes all the way round and made a big production to show how little she thought of the man’s counter-threat.

Akelarre could sympathize, but as a proper princess she had to at least pretend to be polite to the big scary general. “Look, Mister Ironwood--”

“General, Ironwood. Headmaster of Atlas Academy and leader of Atlas’ proud military.”

“Uh-huh,” Akelarre said. She looked around, taking note of all the soldiers in their crisp white uniforms that stood out starkly on the colourful streets of Vale and the grey, knight-like robots standing amongst them. There were Huntsmen too, all in shiny gear and with strange weapons, though they, at least, were a little farther away. “Okay, so lay it out for me logically. Because I’m not seeing it.”

The general’s brow twitched. “What are you on about?” he asked before shaking his head. “No, nevermind that. Get on your knees and allow us to cuff you. Come peacefully and we can avoid any trouble.”

Neo elbowed Akelarre in the ribs, then wiggled her eyebrows at her. 

“No Neo, I won’t allow you to handcuff me to anything,” Akelarre said. Neo pouted and made a few quick gestures. “No, we won’t kill them and wear their skins either. That would be impolite. We’re foreign dignitaries right now, and that would send the wrong diplomatic message.“

The short woman sighed, then perked up then made handcuffing gestures before pointing to the general and his soldiers. 

“They probably do have dungeons,” Akelarre admitted. 

Neo nodded, then made even move gestures.

Akelarre felt her face going red. She placed a hand over Neo’s to stop her signing and looked around to confirm that everyone was, in fact, looking at them. “Neo, you can’t ask that kind of thing out in public... m-maybe later.”

Neo perked an eyebrow.

“We, we’ll see about grabbing some handcuffs too.”

Neo smugged at the soldiers.

The general’s fists clenched and he growled something under his breath while gesturing forwards. A pair of his soldiers detached themselves from the rest, slung their rifles over their backs and moved towards Akelarre and Neo.

“That’s a bad idea,” Akelarre said as she watched the soldiers pull out handcuffs from their belts. ““I’m trying really hard to deescalate things here, Mister Ironwood, but you’re not helping. We could be friends.”

“I doubt we have that much in common,” ironwood said. 

Akelarre shook her head. "We have plenty in common. You lost your arm too! See, we could have been Amputee-buddies. We both have armies. You’re a general and I’m a princess, which both means we’re pretty high up in our respective governments. We could have talked about... taxes.” She sighed. “But then you just had to threaten me in the middle of the city. Like I said, I’m not seeing it. This entire thing isn’t very logical. Don’t you think it would be best to try and talk it out."

“That’s exactly what we’ll do,” the general said. “But we’ll do it in a place where none of Vale’s citizens are threatened.”

“You’re the ones with guns here,” Akelarre pointed out. “My Grimmsects only eat the people and things I tell them to eat.”

The two soldiers had nearly reached Akelarre and Neo. “Cuff them,” Ironwood ordered.

“Yeah, no.”

Neo spun on one heel, and twisted into a lightning vertical split that ended with her booted foot cracking against the jaw of the soldier trying to reach for her. He fell with a gurgle even as she straightened herself and grinned at the others. 

Akelarre’s soldier wasn’t so lucky. 

A dark form dove out of the sky with a loud, joyous ‘Queee!’ and like a hawk wasp picking up an innocent spider, the soldier was torn off the ground and dragged into the air with a rapidly fading scream.

Akelarre had to hold back a grin as she felt all the little bugs crawling across the soldiers and huntsmen tense up.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. My hugglebugs would never purposefully traumatise anyone.”

“Shoot to incapacitate!” Ironwood roared as he brought an arm around to point at the girls.

Three dozen guns clicked.

Neo blinked, then snorted.

“You shouldn’t laugh,” Akelarre admonished. “It’s not their fault they can’t get a shot off. I heard that it can happen to anyone.”

Neo pointed at Ironwood, then let her finger droop.

“I’m sure it can be fixed,” Akelarre said. “Atlas is supposed to be super technologically advanced, I’m sure there’s a solution for your occasional misfire problem.” 

Ironwood’s fists clenched by his sides until he reached out and snatched a rifle from the hands of one of his men. With a few quick motions he took apart the housing above the gun and stared into its innards. 

Akelarre’s many, many small Grimmsects stared back.

“She’s jammed our weaponry,” he said. “Prepare for melee. Huntsmen, you’re up!” 

Akelarre sighed again. “It’s always like this. I try to convince them not to fight me, and yet they never get the message.”Neo, I think it might be best if we made a run for it. I’ll have my hugglebugs distract them.”

Neo pouted.

“No, even if you fought them, and I have no doubt that you could, you might get hurt and we wouldn’t get anything from it. I’d rather let the general win this one and return to our date.” Neo’s eyebrows shot into her hairline and Akelarre suddenly looked away. “N-not that it was a date-date, of course,” she said.

Grinning, Neo grabbed Akelarre by the arm, and with a crack like the universe wincing, the two of them disappeared just as a swarm of man-sized bugs tore out of every alleyway, rooftop and out from under parked cars with a joyous warcry of ‘quee!’

Unnoticed by any of the panicking soldiers, a pair of Deathstalkers scuttled away, claws gripping onto newly acquired handcuffs.

***

They were being belligerent fools. Idiots of the highest order. Worse, they were disrespecting her.

“You think you can march in here with your pretty legs and just trample all over us?” One of the idiots said. He was wearing his jacket open to reveal a colorful shirt underneath. His legs were up on the table and his chair was leaned back carelessly as he eyes her up and down. “If you really want us, you just need to give us a little shimmy, you know?” he said with a grin.

The others were little better, all men, all on the younger side, all flamboyantly dressed as if they were ready to walk into a club instead of acting like proper criminals. She had expected a certain class of gangster at this meeting and was thoroughly disappointed by what she found. 

These particular fools were hotheaded, kept afloat by their own ego more than any skill. She could have replaced a dozen of them with a single focused accountant for all they actually knew of business. 

Adam stepped up beside her, hand resting on the pommel of his sword. “You seem to lack respect for Miss Fall,” he growled.

A few of the men snorted and one of them, a particularly vain specimen waved dismissively before talking, “Who let you out of your pen, bull boy. The grown-ups are talking. So be a good little cow and chew on some silence, yeah?”

Their laughter drowned out the pop-pop of Adam’s knuckles as his hand clenched. This was, Cinder realized, getting out of hand. 

“Boys, boys, boys,” she murmured, voice dropping into a low, sensual cadence that had a few of them paying her more attention. “Adam here is the leader of the local White Fang. Perhaps dismissing him so easily isn’t... wise?” she said as she placed a hand on is shoulder, then ran it down, index first, along the length of his arm. 

Taking a step forwards, she arrived on the edge of the conference room table, aware that the light was coming in from the floor to ceiling windows behind her. She had wanted to use the view to showcase what she could offer to the men, but they were little more than children playing at being gangsters. 

“We came here with such a simple offer,” she began. “Join us, work for us, beneath us and we will reward you with riches beyond your simple imaginings. Or don’t. But if you refuse, it had better be to step out of the competition altogether, otherwise.” she placed a long, delicate finger on the edge of the table and twisted her aura a little. It sizzles as the wood of the conference table began to smoke. 

“You think that just because you took out Wicker and his boys you can make us come here and threaten us?” the one who had his feet up on the table said. He removed them and sat ups straighter, leaning forwards to glare at her. “If you think we’re gonna bow to some upstart little gang just because you’ve got some animals backin’ you up, you’ve got another thing coming, gal.”

“Up...start,” Cinder repeated as if tasting the word. “You seem to think very little of us mister...”

“You should know my name,” he began. “You’re going to be moaning it soon enough. The guys call me--”

“I don’t particularly care about your name. I care about your manpower and your organization. It would be more trouble to replace all of you than it would be to take over your pitiful little gang. That’s the only reason we’re having this conversation,” she said. 

There was a grumble at that, the gangsters not liking what she said. Then Cinder heard a faint but growing wail in the distance, a siren going off. She glanced out the corner of her eye and met Adam’s own concerned look. 

Somehow, she knew that that was Acklarre’s fault.

“Look here, you bitch.”

“Insinuate that I’m any sort of whore again and I will burn off your manhood.” Her hand rose and then, with a woosh like an over being lit, caught fire.

A few of them backed up a bit, cowed, but most just scoffed at the display.

“We are not some rival gang,” she spat. “We aren’t even an organization from Vale. Trust me when I say that you wouldn’t even know where to begin dealing with us.”

“Get off your high horse. You might be pretty enough and the White Fang might, might be helping you, but the Knights won’t bend the knee just because you can threaten us a little. We’re tougher than that.”

Cinder closed her eyes for a moment. She was getting a stress headache from dealing with all the stupid and the faint popping of automatic fire in the distance, probably unheard by the auraless fools in the room, wasn’t helping

“I was told to offer you the carrot, as it were, and I haven’t actually begun to threaten you. But if that’s what you wish, I can certainly comply,” she said.

“Yeah, and what kind of threats do you think would work on us, girl? We aren’t cowards.”

There was a whump, like a flat birb running into a window.

She saw every eye widen and look past her shoulder.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Cinder turned to see that a man was pinned to the window. A man dressed like an Atlesian soldier. His nametag, pressed up against the window like the rest of his body, read Wilhelm. He was still alive, mostly.

A Grimsect, one of Acklarre’s, ran into the window around the man, six jagged, pointed legs spearing through the glass all around the solder before, with a ‘quee’ the Grimm pinched the scruff of the soldier’s uniform with mandibles the size of someone’s forearm, then it started purring.

“Help?!” the soldier screamed into the window while the Grimmsect behind him started to rub up against his body. “Help!”

The Grimm’s wings started to beat, drowning out the rumble of its purr, and with a final ‘quee’ it took off.

Wilhelm’s scream echoed through the silent conference room.

“As I was saying,” Cinder continued as if nothing had happened. “Our ability to threaten you shouldn’t be questioned.”

***

Woo, that one was hard to write. 

Okay, so any of you who visit my Patreon will notice that there’s a neat-o poll on which any Patron can vote. And so far the votes say ‘Princess!’ Sp expect a whole lot more of Akelarre-y goodness in January!


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter Forty

She stepped, then stepped again, and again, and again, then she twirled on the spot, arms reaching out to keep her balance before dipping her knees down into a crouch and stepping again.

Akelarre frowned. That hadn’t worked as she wished. She would try again!

She took a deep breath, stood taller, then stepped, stepped, stepped, started to twirl, tripped over her own feet, then regained her balance while also trying to crouch. Once she was done wobbling, she stepped again.

Turning with her arms still in the proper position, she looked over to see Neo stuffed in a cushion-covered sofa, a hand over her face with only one eye peeking out from between her fingers. “At least I’m getting better?” Akelarre said. “I am getting better, right?”

Neo raised the hand not covering her face, then wobbled it around in a so-so gesture.

“Do you think I’ll be ready for the ball?” she asked.

Neo’s smile was wooden as she nodded.

The pair were tucked in a corner of Junior’s Club, occupying part of the dance floor that was quite empty as early in the day as it was. Neo had stolen all the cushions from the other couches and built a fluffy mound on which she plopped herself to watch Akelarre flop around like a particularly energetic fish that had been yanked out of its comforting waters. The tiny girl was only partially visible from within the pile.

“Well, how about you show me again, then?” Akelarre asked.

Neo rolled her eyes and wiggled off of her cushion throne. She bounced over to the dancefloor, then wiggled on the spot to unlimber her limbs.

Akelarre watched as Neo raised her arms then started waltzing around with the grace and lithe motions of someone with years of practice under their belt. She was at the level of skill where she made all the moves look easy, every twirl and dip and motion of the arms completely natural.

Akelarre wouldn’t admit it to anyone that asked, but watching Neo dance was a whole lot of fun, because when Neo danced, she danced.

With a final twirl and step, Neo let her arms drop to her hips and tilted her head to the side. She perked an eyebrow.

Akelarre sighed. “Okay, fine.”

She raised her arms again, then stepped, stepped, then started ringing.

She paused, then patted her cargo pant’s pockets until she found her scroll. “Hello, Akelarre, benevolent-ish Princess of Grimm speaking.”

“Hey Akelarre!” Ruby’s chirpy voice shouted into the scroll. “It’s me! I’m calling because me and the girls, and I guess Jaune too, were sort of worried about you after yesterday. There was supposed to be a big fight in the middle of Vale and they’re saying it was your fault but I don’t believe them. Also your posters look nothing like you at all it’s really silly.”

Akelarre blinked. “Posters?” she asked.

“Oh yeah, Goodwitch put up all these posters of someone that kinda sorta looks like you, if you squint. They’re asking for information and telling people not to approach you because you’re a big scary criminal. But Yang said it’s okay, you’re not really an actual big scary criminal so we can totally still hang out because if anyone can convince you not to sink us under a grimm tsunami it’s going to be me.” She giggled. “At least, that’s what Yang said.”

“Huh, I hope that won’t be a problem with the dance?”

“What? Pfft, no. Never,” Ruby said. “Nothing’s bad’s going to happen, I’m sure of it!”

Akelarre hummed in agreement. “I’m sure. I was actually just about to head out with Neo to buy a proper dress. It’s that or head back home to get one but mom is kinda old fashioned and she’d want to take pictures.”

“Oh, dad wants us to send pictures too. Well, he asked for mugshots of any boys we bring with us, but you’re a girl, so it’s probably okay.” Ruby paused for a breath. “Hey, I need to go dress shopping too. Did you want to go together?”

“I wouldn--”

“Oh, and now Yang wants to come. And Weiss is ranting about how we couldn’t pick out something pretty if we tried. And Blake... Okay, I think Blake wants to stay here, she’s hissing at me.”

Akelarre held back a giggle. “Alright. I’m at the Club. You know the one. If you guys hurry we can meet up in a bit before heading out. Oh, and bring one of those posters.”

“Okay! See you soon!”

And just like that, the line went dead. Akelarre looked away from her scroll to see Neo watching her with one eyebrow perked. “Ah, I hope you don’t mind the others coming along?” she asked.

Neo made a so-so gesture with one hand, then tapped at her cheek while looking out of the corner of her eye. She raised one finger.

“On one condition?” Akelarre guessed.

Neo nodded, then made a show of licking the air and wiggling her tongue out of her mouth..

“You... want ice cream?”

The shorter girl blinked, then shrugged as if to say ‘sure, or that’

“I-I’m sure we can work something out.”

***

Ruby vibrated. It wasn’t a figure of speech to describe how excited she was. Not that she wasn’t plenty excited. She was, quite literally, vibrating on the spot.

Across from her, Yang was wearing the smile of an indulgent older sibling as she sat squeezed up next to Blake who was focusing very hard on her book. That meant, of course, that the last member of team RWBY was plopped right next to a Ruby who was vibrating so fast that she was scattering flower petals all over them both.

“I swear, if the Bullhead falls apart because you couldn’t sit still for three whole minutes I will use you for my landing strategy. As a cushion,” Weiss said.

Ruby shut her mouth with a click and kept the wobbles locked in tight against her chest.

That lasted all of thirty seconds before, red faced, the wiggles escaped as a burst of excited giggles and even more vibrating, like a puppy on a sugar rush.

Weiss’s brows were twitching and she looked ready to smack some calm into her partner when Yang intervened. “Oh, let her go, Weiss. She’s just nervous about meeting her girlfriend.” The last word was spoken with so much meaning and inflection that even someone as thick as Jaune might have caught on to it. “And here I thought you weren’t supposed to see the dress until the big night.”

“We’re not getting married!” Ruby shouted.

The bullhead dipped a little as the pilot looked over their shoulder.

“We’re not,” Ruby protested. “It’s just a big dance with all of my friends and Akelarre. And if Akelarre’s my girlfriend, does that mean Blake’s yours?”

“I’m not,” Blake replied with the speed of an arrow going through someone’s heart.

Yang clutched at her chest. “Blake, my heart’s not a ball of yarn. You can’t claw at it like that. Are you just going to play with me before leaving me in the litter box?”

The cat faunus looked up from her book for just long enough to lock eyes with Yang. “Please die.”

“My other two disfunctional teammates besides,” Weiss said as she looked away from Blake and Yang as if ignoring a lost cause. “What are you hoping to accomplish by visiting Akelarre today?”

“Accomplish?” Ruby repeated. “We’re going dress shopping. I thought you knew.”

“Yes, that much is obvious, but there must be a purpose behind that.”

“...fun?”

“Fun is not a purpose,” Weiss sniffed.

“Oh boy. Don’t take dating advice from the Schnee,” Yang said. “She wouldn’t know how to date someone if her daddy didn’t arrange it and a contract wasn’t signed in triplicate beforehand.”

“I’ll have you know that I am perfectly aware of how dating works,” Weiss huffed.

All three girls looked at her. And the pilot.

“Theoretically,” she added.

“Right,” Ruby said. “So, this isn’t even a date. It’s just us buying the cutest dresses and getting Akelarre to pay for them.”

Weiss squawked as if someone had stepped on her toes. “Ruby Rose! You can’t get her to pay. Don’t you have your own money? Or are you turning into some… some sort of gold digging hussy?!”

“I’m not!” Ruby shot back, her face reddening as she did. “But Akelarre wouldn’t mind. And I need every lien I have to make Crescent Rose better. She’s been asking for even more modifications lately.”

“So, is getting more toys for your weapon more important than the ball for you? Important enough that you’d beg for lien from the very girl you’re going to dance with?” Weiss said. “How is that fair?”

“Well, it’s not Akelarre’s lien, it’s her mom’s, and her mom is literally the queen of all that is evil. So by spending it on pretty dresses and weapon mods, I’m actually helping Remnant.”

Weiss opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked away for a moment as if deep in thought, then tried to speak only to fail. Then, with a cough to clear her throat, she looked across the aisle towards Blake. “How would you like a Schnee credit card?”

Blake perked one eyebrow up. “Are you trying to bribe your way out of all the guilt your family has accrued over decades of malpractice?”

“No,” Weiss said. “I’m telling you that my card is linked to the same account as Jacques Schnee and that we could buy the prettiest dresses on credit then make him pay interest on them.”

Blake blinked. “Well, when you put it that way. It’s like doing Faunuskind a favour really.”

The Bullhead shifted a little, then landed with a thump. “We’ve arrived, ladies,” the pilot called back over their shoulder.

Team RWBY thanked the pilot and shuffled out of the craft and onto one of the landing pads near the city centre. Vale was busy, people zipping to and fro under the early afternoon sun, many of them with a sense of urgency but others taking their time and enjoying the day.

Ruby started to move when someone tugged at her cape and stopped her short. “Oh no,” Yang said, “if you think we’ll let you run ahead of us to spend more alone time with Akelarre you have another thing coming, lovely little sister of mine.”

“But Yang,” Ruby started.

“No butts,” Yang said. “No boobs either, dad said so. Not even any kissing.”

Ruby cringed in time with her other teammates. “That was bad, Yang.”

“That’s how you know it was a good pun,” Yang said as she visibly revelled in their pain. “Now let’s get going. If we allow you to get there early enough to start on the puppy dog treatment, no butts might become a little butts.”

“No Yang. Just no.”

Team RWBY started moving as a group towards the docks and the seedier parts of town, none of them all that concerned about the shady people eyeing them or the way some people got greedy glints in their eyes at the sight of four well dressed young ladies. The truth of the matter was that they were huntsmen, and that made them as invincible as their youth made them think they were.

Ruby took the lead, of course, because she was the leader and she wanted to get there the most. That’s why she was the first one to see the person blocking their path.

The girl stood in the middle of the sidewalks, arms crossed and a scowl firmly in place as she eyed them all. Her long coat moved despite the lack of wind, and her fedora, which was squished atop orange hair, sat at an angle that cast a deep shadow over her eyes.

“Penny?”

“Hello, potential enemy Ruby, potential enemy Blake, potential enemy Yang and... and onetime potential-marriage-material Weiss. I have been betrayed and I think it is high time we talk about it.”

***

Dun dun duun!!

Okay, so, the Patreons voted for Princess this month, so it’ll be the story I’m focused on until the end of January! Expect a whole lore more Akelarre-y goodness.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter Forty-One

Penny was expecting certain responses to her accusation, but the one she received defied every line of her predictive algorithms.

“How dare you! I... I am so marriable!” Weiss said into the silence.

Ruby, Blake, Yang and even Penny all turned to stare at the red-faced young woman. It was Penny who finally broke the silence. She pointed a finger right into the middle of team RWBY, and with a straight back and eyes that sparkled with determination, declared, “Team RWBY, you are consorting with the enemy of mankind.”

“And that makes me ineligible for marriage?” Weiss asked.

Penny blinked slowly as her processors churned over that. “I was not ready for that conversation. Can we please discuss the evil Grimm in your midst?” 

“I’d marry Weiss,” Ruby said.

Now everyone was looking at Ruby. 

“I mean, if Weiss was that way. Not that I’m saying she isn’t, what with how she wants to marry Penny. But if I wasn’t... totally not going after Akelarre, then I’d be okay with Weiss.”

Weiss’ mouth opened a few times before she settled on a glare. “You mean I’d be second fiddle? And, and I never said I wanted to marry Penny! Or that I was gay!” 

“I am not marriage ready,” Penny added. “But I am willing to try if it would please my friends. Not that you are in the friend category any longer.”

There was a long suffering sigh from the back of the group, and with the aplomb of someone walking into the line of fire, Yang stepped up with hands on hips and head shaking. “Okay, okay, everyone shut up. Big sister Yang’s going to fix all of this up in a jiffy. Penny, love, give us just a minute and we’ll get back to you. Weiss, I don’t think Penny was looking down at your marriageability, she’s just a little angry. She’ll get over it in no time, and then you two can get back to planning your extravagant Atlesian wedding. Ruby, I love you. Please stop trying to help. You’re making things worse. Blake... stop enjoying this so much.”

Yang took a deep breath, then turned to face Penny head on. “And now you. Explain. You’re tossing accusations in the faces of four huntswomen in training in the middle of a quiet street while wearing a trenchcoat. This is saturday-morning cartoon levels of suspicious.”

Penny watched as the girls all shifted, their faces all various shades of red. “I can do that. I am explanation ready.” She took a deep breath. “I have recently begun a very gratifying relationship with Akelarre. During our initial intercourse I told her that I was looking for a suspicious individual that might have ties to the Grimm.”

She blinked when Ruby’s face lit up. But that didn’t matter, she was asked to explain, so she would.

“After our initial meet-up and intercourse, we continued spending some time together, culminating in a threesome gathering with Akelarre and Neo Politan some nights ago.” She paused to let Ruby finish clearing her throat. “After much discussion, sleeping together, and the ritualistic consumption of frozen treats, I thought I could consider Akelarre a friend, one that brought me many benefits, and one that I could benefit in turn.”

“I’m sure that all sounded better in your head,” Yang said. “But I have to say that I approve.”

“I too, approved. Until I discovered through my uncle that Akelarre was none other than the Grimm Girl. She was the enemy all along!” 

“Hey,” Ruby shouted. “Akelarre isn’t the enemy. She’s a good friend.”

“If you’re the friend of an enemy, then perhaps you are an enemy as well,” Penny said.

Ruby growled, eyes narrowed and fists closed by her sides. “I’m not,” she muttered.

“I want you to bring me to Akelarre so that I may denounce her as an enemy of mankind and then eradicate her as I was initially ordered to.”

“As hot as that sounds, could we not eradicate me just yet?”

Penny whipped around, sensors coming online and fixing on the source of the call. 

Akelarre, the Grimm Girl herself, was walking towards them, a new, unfamiliar jacket on and a smile on her face. Neo was half a step behind her, skipping to keep up with Akelarre’s longer stride. “You!”

“Me!” Akelarre said. “A little bug told me you guys were close, so we decided to head out. Hello team RWBY, hello, Penny.”

“Do not presume to say hello to me, Grimm Girl!” Penny declared. She unlatched her primary offensive systems. Floating Array took to the air around her, Dust-infused string keeping all twelve gun-swords afloat.

“So cool!” Ruby said. “Hey Penny, can I please check out your swords?”

“Stay back, enemy-Ruby. Once I have eliminated the Grimm threat, I will proceed to arrest you and allow you to inspect my weaponry.”

Akelarre raised a hand as if to ask a question. “I feel like I’m missing a whole lot of context.”

“The context is that you are a duplicitous mean person that has betrayed me and will therefore be arrested and charged to the full extent of Vale law.”

Akelarre lowered her hand, her smiled slowly fading away. “I see. You think I betrayed you?” she asked. “Is it because I didn’t tell you what I am?”

“You were fully aware that I was on a hunt to find the evil Grimm Girl, and yet you pretended to be someone else,” Penny said. She pushed her swords a little farther from her body then shifted them into their more compact gun forms. Ruby ‘ooohed’ behind her. “Prepare to be detained.”

Akelarre met her eyes, then looked around at all the others. “Guys, how about you all head out? Penny and I need to chat a little. I’ll meet you at that little cafe two streets down? Neo knows the place.”

“I shouldn’t allow anyone to leave the premises,” Penny said. “It goes against protocol.”

“Is it protocol to allow people to potentially get hurt in a crossfire? And if it isn’t protocol, could you really live with yourself? You know that the girls are probably innocent. Well, not Neo, she’s definitely guilty of something, but the others are all sweet.”

Neo winked at Penny, but the others didn’t disagree or otherwise voice an opinion. Penny was torn. On the one hand, it went against protocol, on the other, she didn’t have any real evidence that Team RWBY were hardened criminals. “Very well,” she said.

The girls hesitated some more, but when Neo skipped by them they chose to break off, all except for Ruby who had to be dragged away by her sister while complaining about wanting to see Penny’s Floating Array.

“Okay. So did you want to sit down or are we going to talk while standing off?” Akelarre asked. “There are other cafes in the city, we could chat over hot chocolate?”

“I would rather not have to lower my weapons in the face of a threat.”

Akelarre tilted her head to one side. “Is that what I am? A threat?”

“You are a Grimm. The Grimm are mankind’s enemy.”

She frowned at that. “And because I’m different, I'm the enemy? That’s rich, coming from a girl that’s not even half-human.”

Penny didn’t flinch. She had enough processing power to prevent the involuntary motion, still, maybe something escaped her iron-clad control because Akelarre seemed to notice. 

“I’m sorry, that came out... worse then I intended.”

“You knew?” Penny asked.

Akelarre nodded slowly. “I did. Does it matter? You’re still my friend. Even now. You’re not even my first AI friend at that. Just because you’re a little different doesn’t mean you can’t be my friend. I would have thought you would understand that. Though, I guess you do still feel betrayed that I didn’t tell you what I am. I didn’t want you to react... well, like this.” She gestured at Floating Array.

“My... my feelings on the matter shouldn’t contribute to my final decision to arrest you,” Penny said. “You are a Grimm, and that’s a crime.”

“I doubt it’s literally illegal to be a Grimm,” Akelarre said.

Penny blinked. “It is illegal to be a Grimm,” she confirmed. “It’s part of Vale’s constitution, as written by one of the last Kings of Vale. It is why I must arrest you.”

“Oh,” Akelarre said. “That’s unfortunate. I didn’t think you had that kind of restriction on your programming. Are you unable to not follow the law?”

“I have no such restrictions,” Penny said. “I am merely doing as I am told because I want to be a dutiful niece.”

“So you would arrest me, even if it’s the wrong thing, because you want to please Ironwood?”

Penny felt Floating Array waver a little. It shouldn’t have done that, the dust-infused wires were controlled by her aura which should have been as strong as ever, but she could detect minor anomalies and fluctuations in it. “I... yes?” 

“Penny,” Akelarre said with a note of desperation in her voice. “I... I don’t have a choice, you know? I’m part Grimm. It’s who I am. I’m not going to let you hurt me or my friends because of that. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“But,” Penny began. She paused and wetted her lips. “The same argument could be made about all the other Grimm,” she said.

“The other Grimm are following orders. They’re as autonomous as those robots your Uncle has with him. Smart, but no more so than any animal. More like programs than you or me.”

“I think I see,” she said. “So you would be willing to renounce your evil ways?” Penny asked.

“You’re assuming that I’m evil to begin with,” Akelarre said. “That’s kinda rude. Would you want people to assume you’re evil just because you’re not human?”

“I would not,” she admitted.

Akelarre moved a little closer, hands still visible in what she could easily categorize as a sign that she didn’t wish to fight. “How about this. You’re smart enough to think for yourself, to make up your own mind. Come with me. Spend the day with me and team RWBY. Judge for yourself whether I’m some evil threat to humanity.”

“Are you saying that you’re not a threat at all?” Penny asked. She tensed the wires controlling Floating Array.

Akelarre laughed. “I’m a huge threat, Penny. I could swarm Vale with more Grimm than there are people living here in under an hour, twice that number in half a day. There are enough elder Grimm around the city that I could have the walls cracked and the sun blotted out with flying Grimm with only a few commands.”

“This is the opposite of reassuring.”

Akelarre smiled. “Look around you. Are the skies darkened by Grimm? Are there amphibious Grimmsects pouring out of the docks? Are the walls collapsing from termite Grimm eating away at the supports? Yeah, I could be a threat, but I chose not to be. Just as you chose not to hurt people just because they’re not the same as you.”

“I...” Penny hesitated. She had just recorded Akelarre admitting to being able to carry out capital crimes. In fact, everything Akelarre had just said her uncle would love to hear. It would give him enough just cause to hunt Akelarre down, to call in more reinforcements, to have the council of Vale bend to what he asked.

And it would still all be for nothing if what Akelarre said was true.

“I’ve been where you are, you know,” Akelarre said. There was a strange pitch to her voice, a slower cadence than usual as if what she was saying had more weight. At least, that’s what her elocution programs suspected. “You want to do the right thing. Believe it or not, I've been there. Like, right there. This whole turning in your new super-powered besties to the authorities thing? It's spookily spot on."

Penny took a small step back, pulling Floating Array along with her. 

“I guess I should cut to the chase, yeah? I know that you probably felt betrayed, but I’m happy that I tricked you. We would never have become friends otherwise. Like how you hide who you are a little. But those were all lies. We can stop that, if you want, go right to the truth. Yeah, I’m the Grimm Girl, I’m a monster, I could destroy Vale. But I don’t want to, so I won’t.” Akelarre fidgeted on the spot. "So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, how about you hang out with me to make sure I'm not gonna wipe out humanity?"

Penny looked down, then back up to Akelarre. She was an android, with more computing power than any human at her disposal. It meant that she could come to a decision faster than most.

She made up her mind.

Floating Array clicked back into its holster at the small of her back.

“I will observe you to ensure that you act in accordance with Vale’s laws,” she said. “And if we have fun, then I will consider that an unplanned additional victory.

***

Big, hunking huge thank-you to all of my Patreons for bully-- for encouraging me every day to write more and more stuff for you guys to consume. 

Also, give a patpat to those that helped with the grammar this chapter, like Sammax. They deserve it!


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter Forty-Two

Five girls, a robot, a monster, and about a billion unseen bugs walked down the street, but it wasn’t the start of a joke.

“I suppose it will fall upon me to lead you girls to the best shops,” Weiss said with a tone that sounded long-suffering. Akelarre doubted it was real, the smile tugging at Weiss’ lips and the little bit of pop in her step gave away her real feelings on the matter.

“I suppose so,” she said with a grin. “Lead us to the place with the prettiest dresses, Miss Schnee.”

Weiss nodded imperiously and pointed ahead like a general in a revolutionary painting. All she was missing was a cloak, a huge horse and some Russians to invade in winter. Akelarre smiled at her own joke and walked a little faster. “Hey, Ruby,” she said.

“Hey Akelarre,” Ruby said as she looked up to her. “I, uh, have a secret to tell you,” she said.

Akelarre blinked. “Okay,” she said. She could feel the attention of the others snapping onto her and Ruby. Neo didn’t even try to pretend not to be listening in, but Yang and Blake and even Penny continued their conversation about dresses unabated. Only Penny was actually paying it any attention now though.

“Right so,” Ruby started. “I don’t know how to walk in heels. Or dance in heels. Actually, I think heels are evil.”

Akelarre nodded. “That’s fine. You can wear your boots. It’ll be safer that way.”

“Ruby!” Yang said. “You can’t not wear heels. It’s a ball, not some dance over in Patch. If you’re going to wear a pretty dress you need the shoes to go with it. Imagine showing all your kids pictures of you and your wife’s first big dance and you’re wearing big clunky combat boots. I know I’ll always be the cool aunt, but you need to at least make an effort.”

“But Yang, heels are evil. And, and we’re not getting married! Or having babies!” 

“I agree with Ruby. On all counts. Boots are better for everyone. Our future babies will think that their mom was a pragmatic and tough huntress who didn’t bend to anyone’s stereotypes and who respects her toes.” Akelarre nodded firmly.

Yang huffed, hands on hips and head shaking so that her hair waved all over. “No no no. Ruby, you can’t dance well in your clunky boots. I bet Akelarre can dance in heels.”

Ruby turned to her, eyes wide and watery and full of curious hope. “Yeah, I bet you had all sorts of princess-y dancing lessons.”

“Ah,” Akelarre said. “Sure I did. Haha. Maybe leather?” Team RWBY all kind of stared at her while walking, and only Ruby’s look was openly curious. “I mean, your normal combat outfit is kinda goth like, so maybe try a leather... dress thing. That way you can keep your boots, and your toes.”

Neo sighed and walked a little faster so that she was by Akelarre’s side. She patted her on the shoulder and shook her head.

“No good?” she asked.

The shorter girl wiggled her hand a little, then pointed to herself and nodded.

“You’ll take care of it?” she asked, just to make sure.

Neo nodded, then turned to smile at Ruby before she reached up to wrap an arm around her shoulders. She pulled Ruby forwards while gesturing wildly with her free hand. Ruby paid attention, but judging by her increasingly confused look she understood it about as well as a puppy would understand English.

Akelarre smiled at seeing them go, it was nice to see her friends getting along so well. Speaking of friends, she realized that one member of their little party had been too quiet for too long. “Hey, Penny, did you have a dress for the ball?”

“I have a dress for formal occasions, yes,” Penny said.

“Did you want a new one for the ball?” Akelarre asked. “Cause if you do, now’s the time. I’m not that good with fashion stuff, but I’m sure the others could help. And I can pay, if you need the cash.”

“Thank you,” Penny said. “But I would rather just observe.” 

Akelarre nodded along. It wouldn’t do to stifle her friend. “Alright. Just, if you need to chat, I’m just a few steps ahead. Oh! And I just found a neat shop that sells leather stuff!” 

Ruby and Neo looked over their shoulders at that declaration and Weiss, who was still in the lead, paused to listen too. “I am leading us towards the very best fashion stores in Vale,” she said. “I don’t recall any of them selling leather... anything.”

“Well, my bugs just found this one. It’s just one block down.” Akelarre pointed off in the right direction. “Should we give it a look.”

There was a round of shrugs and the whole group suddenly found itself following Akelarre’s lead. It was a good thing they were all in shape, because the pace they kept up left most civilians in the dirt. Not quite a run, but a brisk walk made to eat up miles of wilderness in a day. 

Akelarre paid attention to her gaggle of friends as she walked. They were all terribly different people, but they all seemed to get along. Ruby was still trying to understand Neo, and judging by the redness of her cheeks and the occasional shit-eatiness of Neo’s grin, the girl was making lewder and lewder gestures on purpose. 

Yang was tagging along with Blake who seemed busier with a book than with her blond teammate, not that Yang wasn’t trying to start a conversation. There was something going on between those two, but she couldn’t quite pin it down. 

It was the other two that had her worried. Penny was quiet, less enthusiastic than usual. Perhaps that was normal, with all the secrets that had been revealed. 

Weiss, on the other hand, had no reason that Akelarre knew of to be so down. She was going to have to find the time to chat her up soon.

“Um, Akelarre,” Yang said as soon as they got close to the store. “Look, as much as I love teasing Ruby about her little crush--”

“I don’t have a crush!”

“Uh-huh,” Yang went on as if she wasn’t interrupted. “I still think that maybe you two should take things a little slower. Way slower. Like, start by holding hands. Maybe a kiss on the cheeks in a few weeks.”

The store definitely sold equipment made of leather. Things like corsets, and whips, and gags. Akelarre felt her cheeks warming just at the sight of it. The pictures behind the displays were rather vivid and suggestive. “Maybe we follow Weiss’ advice,” she said. 

Neo shrugged and started for the front door, only to be stopped when five pairs of hands grabbed her and held her back. She pouted as she was bodily dragged back onto the main streets of Vale and towards the fancier shopping districts. 

There were a whole lot more people here. Most of them were on the younger side, couples laughing together, groups of friends chatting amicably and some folks sitting under the shade of statues and parasols. Akelarre saw the last bit of tension escaping from her friends’ shoulders, all except for Weiss.

“This is the place,” Weiss said as she gestured to a shop sitting in a place of pride near an open courtyard. The building was tall, with a glass facade and stainless steel pillars all along the front. Dresses on mannequins stood out behind the glass, some of them being poked and prodded by the customers within. “It’s not the most expensive place in Vale, that would be some of the boutiques that only make custom apparel, but for something ready-made it will do.”

Yang clapped. “Alright, so how do we do this? Move in as a pack, or split up into smaller groups to meet up in a few minutes or do we all go in solo and hope for the best?”

“I think pairs would work fine,” Akelarre said. “Or two pairs and one group of three. Dibs on Weiss.”

“Me?" Weiss asked before her eyes narrowed. “I’m not joining your little harem,” she warned.

“I’m not trying to get you to join my harem,” Akelarre said. “And I don’t have a harem.” Neo snorted but that was easy to ignore. “I just think it would be less pressure to go with you than Neo or Ruby or Penny. And Yang and Blake are obviously going together.”

“Dibs on Ruby,” Blake said.

Neo grabbed Ruby’s wrist, then raised three fingers.

“I suppose this means we are going together, friend Yang!” Penny cheered.

Yang made a noise in the back of her throat like a kettle boiling over. “Betrayed. I’ve been betrayed by everyone.”

“Good luck, Penny,” Akelarre said as she moved towards the shop. She could see, through the eyes of her many little bigs, that Weiss hesitated to follow her, then looked at her options which were either Penny or Yang. She was quick to catch up.

“Why did you really want me?” she asked as soon as they were in the shop. It wasn’t quite as busy as it looked from the outside. The front section had all the dresses and outfits that were on sale, but all the really nice ones were deeper in the store and the second floor was practically empty of people.

Akelarre lead them that way. It helped that the dresses at the back leaned more towards monotonous colours. She didn’t think she would look good in bright colours and Weiss was definitely more of a winter pallet. 

“I note a conspicuous lack of answer to my question,” Weiss said a little testily.

“Sorry,” Akelarre said. “I was just thinking. I’m not very good, socially, I mean. Don’t think I’ve ever been really, so I might not notice things right away. But I am good at paying attention to things, and I have more ears then there are people on Remnant. So I hear things.”

Weiss perked one eyebrow, looking exactly like the aristocrat she purported to be. “Are you trying to make me wary? Because if so, you are most definitely succeeding.”

Akelarre shook her head, black hair tumbling around the nape of her neck. “No. Sorry. It’s just. I heard you talking to Penny earlier. And, well, I think I’m Penny’s only friend, even if things are kind of rocky between us right now.”

Weiss stared at her, one eyebrow still raised as if waiting for the response that would inevitably come. She rolled her eyes and turned to start looking at the nearest dresses. “I’m certain you have a point.”

“My point,” Akelarre said as she tried not to be irate, “is that I heard that you have intentions to marry Penny, and as her only friend it falls upon me to vet you.”

Weiss choked, her head yanking at the side of a dress hard enough that the material tore with a screech of fabric. “You want to what?”

“I know you’re on Ruby’s team, and she seems to think highly of you, so that much is already really good. But other than that I know very little about you,” Akelarre went on to say.

“Nevermind that,” Weiss huffed as she pushed away the torn dress and turned to face Akelarre fully. She stood up to her full height, almost enough to reach Akelarre’s nose and glared up at her. “I am perfect marriage material. I don’t see why people are deeming that worthy of question recently. N-not that I want to marry Penny anyway. All we agreed to was to be companions at a ball. Nothing else.”

“Isn’t that usually how things start? You accompany someone to one ball, then next thing you know it’s ten years later and you can’t live without them?”

Weiss narrowed her eyes. “You’re projecting, aren’t you?” she asked. “You’re not worried for Penny, you’re worried for Ruby.”

“What?”

She poked Akelarre in the chest. “That’s right. You think things are going too fast with you and my partner. And they are. Ruby’s a great person and she deserves better than you.”

“That’s not at all what I was talking about,” Akelarre said as she crossed her arms. “I heard that your father was a mean person and that he might not approve of your relationship with Penny.”

“I heard that your mother was the evilest person and that she might not approve of your relationship with Ruby,” Weiss shot back.

There was a sigh from the rack to Akelarre’s left. She blinked as she realized that some of her smaller Grimmsects were right next to her having approached completely unnoticed as she argued. “And to think that I once thought that I had troubles.” A few dresses moved aside with the scrape of hangers on steel poles to reveal an unimpressed Blake Belladonna in the pinkest, most fluffy dress Akelarre had ever seen. “You two need help.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be with Ruby and Neo?” Akelarre asked.

“They ditched me for Penny and then I ran away from Yang. Don’t change the subject, cousin.” Blake narrowed her eyes and, even though she was hiding in a clothing rack, she managed to look properly intimidating. “If you want to talk then we’re here, but don’t go poking at Weiss just because she’s the evilest one here.”

“Hey!”

Akelarre huffed, crossed her arms, and looked away. “Fine,” she said.

If they wanted to talk, she’d talk.

***

Thank-you to all of my Patreons for for encouraging me every day to write more and more stuff for you guys to consume.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter Forty-three

“We need,” Blake began speaking in a way that was surprisingly intimidating for a girl wearing what had to be the most pinkest, most poofiest dress in the store, “to talk about Ruby and her place in your little harem.”

Akelarre raised both hands to ward her off. “Okay, first of all, I don’t have a harem.” She ignored the twin scoffs from Weiss and Blake. “Second. Ruby’s a good friend. I would never hurt her.”

Weiss crossed her arms and raised her nose up. “You do know that if you continue as you have this little crush of hers is going to turn into something else?”

“Since when do you know anything about romance?” Blake asked her.

“I’m a Schnee. I was educated in such things by the best teachers there are.” She cleared her throat and refocused on Akelarre. “Ruby is, to my utmost surprise, a wonderful team leader and a superb friend. Hurting her feelings would be a shame, but it would be best if it were done now rather than later when her... fixation on you grows too strong.”

“I...” Akelarre shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say.” She felt around the store with her bugs to make sure the others were okay. Ruby and Neo were trading dresses and Yang was crying on Penny’s shoulder in a booth. The last was a problem for someone else.

Blake rolled her eyes. “She’s falling in love with you. I don’t know if Grimm princesses can even reciprocate that. And if you can, do you?”

“Do I?” Akelarre asked with rising trepidation.

“Love her back. Or at least have a crush on her.” Blake’s eyes narrowed and Akelarre had the impression that it was the sort of question with no right answer.

“I-I don’t know?” she tried. “I mean, Ruby’s nice really nice, but I... she’s in love? Love love? I really like her, she’s a sweetie, and it’s fun to be with her, and, and uh.”

“You’re both useless,” Weiss grumbled. “Fortunately, Ruby is too young for you to do anything, and if you try I will gut you.”

“I wouldn’t!” Akelarre said.

“Of course not, you have other people in your harem for that,” Blake said. “Neo doesn’t seem the sort to say no to anything.”

“She’d have to wait at least three years for that kind of thing,” Weiss added.

“That would make Ruby nineteen, Weiss. Even you are not that much of a prude,” Blake shot back.

“I’ve seen the smut you read, Blake, better a prude then whatever you are.”

“Um,” Akelarre added to the conversation.

They both turned glares onto her and she regretted making so much as a noise. “Maybe we should tell Ruby that it wouldn’t work out,” Weiss said. “It would be for the best.”

“I don’t know,” Blake said. “Harems do have this sort of emotional support network built into them. Velvet seems nice enough. Neo... well, Velvet is very nice. Ruby is the kind of girl that should have a good network with her as she explores relationships. ”

“I don’t have a harem?” Akelarre tried.

“You do, you really do,” Blake said. “It’s that or Neo has a harem and you’re just the one she uses to find new members.”

“I’m pretty sure Neo doesn’t have a harem. And she’s not in my harem. Because I don’t have a harem.”

Both girls stared. And stared. 

Akelarre fidgeted on the spot, then looked away. “I don’t,” she repeated herself. “If I had a harem I would... uh.” 

She looked back to see that they were still staring. 

“I have a harem.” Akelarre choked as the realization hit her like a bat to the face. “Oh god, I have a harem. What do I do?”

Blake and Weiss looked at each other and somehow Weiss was elected as spokesperson. “What do you expect us to know about harems? We’re just worried for Ruby.”

“You’re a rich heiress and she’s a smut reading princess. If anyone knows anything about harems it’s you two,” Akelarre shot back.

Weiss squawked like a chicken that narrowly avoided being stepped on and Blake hissed as she pulled a book out of somewhere and hugged it to her fluffy pink dress. 

“I know no such thing! My estate management teachers pulled me aside at one point to explain the finer points of managing multiple partners, but it was not for the purposes of having a harem.” She huffed and turned away as if to hide the splashes of red on her porcelain skin. “I am not a degenerate like some of the people here.” 

“What, they didn’t think you could handle your mistresses and boytoys on your own? Blake deadpanned.

“And what,” Weiss said as she snapped around. “Is that supposed to mean?” she asked. “I’m perfectly capable of handling any number of boytoys!”

Blake raised one eyebrow, a ridiculously smug smile tugging at the corners of her lips while Weiss reflected on what she said and began sputtering denials.

“I think we’re straying from the original point, and I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not,” Akelarre said.

They both turned back towards her, and she remembered her earlier thoughts about remaining quiet. 

***

Ruby hummed as she spun in her dress once, then looked at herself in one of the floor-to-ceiling mirrors. It wasn’t leather and it was a lot more confining than her combat dress, but she still thought that the dress she picked out (with a bit of help from Neo) was very flattering. 

It pinched up her bust, showed off her shoulders and her well defined arms while also doing things with her backside that had her blushing and Neo giving her thumbs up.

“I like it!” she declared. And to think it only took her half an hour to find something so cute! She would have to go shopping with Neo more often. Or maybe she could return the favour, Neo had yet to find a dress for herself. The poor girl was stuck shopping in the children’s section of the store, not that Ruby was going to say anything out loud. “I’m going to go find Akelarre and show her,” she said.

Neo shrugged and made a ‘go ahead’ sort of gesture.

She grinned at her new friend and walked past, bare feet swishing over the carpeted floor. Ruby was getting to know Neo well enough that she could pick up most of the expressions the shorter girl used. 

As soon as she got back to Beacon she would look up sign language courses. Not only would it be super cool to know, it would be neat to be able to speak with Neo with no one else understanding, like a secret friendship language. Akelarre probably knew some already because she was a princess and was super clever.

She found Akelarre talking with Weiss and Blake, the three of them very close to each other. In fact, Weiss had a hand on Akelarre’s chest. Well, a finger. And it wasn’t on her chest so much as poking it was it to reinforce whatever Weiss was talking about.

Ruby didn’t need to be jealous. Weiss and Blake would never get between her and her friendship with Akelarre, they were good friends like that.

Still, she slowed down a little, something that she wasn’t used to doing, in order to better listen in on what they were talking about. 

One did not grow up around Yang Xiao-Long without gaining a certain appreciation for good gossip.

“The most important thing,” Blake said in a low voice that didn’t really carry all that much and had Ruby straining to hear, “is the cooperation and mutual support in the relationship. All relationships, good ones at least, are about trust and mutual love and helping each other. A harem isn’t any different, it just has more people, which can also mean more things to balance. You might not have the same goals in life as Ruby does, they might even conflict, and you’ll have to figure that out. Velvet probably has her own goals. I don’t even want to guess what Neo wants.”

“That’s all well and good,” Weiss said. She poked Akelarre a few times, her other hand rising to cover her face. “But you could also consider the relative positions that your... harem mates hold, and how that reflects upon you.”

“I hardly think that that’s important,” Blake said.

“Oh? And who will be the breadwinner in their relationship? Will they all mooch off of Akelarre’s family's riches? Or will Ruby and the others strike out on their own? Ruby is from a simple family, but they’re almost all huntsmen. How will that reflect on Akelarre’s own family? For that matter, Neo is a criminal, no less. Will she drag the others down with her?”

Akelarre’s head was wobbling a bit as Ruby’s teammates broke out into a fit of bickering between each other in tones too low for her to properly hear.

“What are you guys talking about?” she asked as she moved around a rack of dresses and came closer. It also allowed her to see the dress that Blake was wearing. “And, who picked that out for you Blake?” she added. “It’s very... uh. I hope you like it?”

“Nothing!” all three of them said at the same time.

Ruby blinked. She had never seen both Weiss and Blake blushing at the same time, or Akelarre go quite that red in the face before.

“Is it my dress?” she asked while looking down.

“No!” Akelarre said. “That dress is very, uh,” she paused as the other two turned to look at her. “It’s very nice.”

Ruby beamed. “Thanks! Neo helped pick it out. She’s really nice when she wants to be.”

“Yeah, yeah she can be that way,” Akelarre said, one arm rising to rub the back of her neck. “Uh, so is that the dress you’ll be going to the ball with? It makes you look ol-- more mature.”

Now Weiss was glaring.

Ruby had the impression that she was missing a lot of sub-text, like when dad asked Yang weird questions about her playdates with some of the boys and a lot of the girls from Signal. They always made it sound like they were doing more than just playing and Yang was always very blush-y and angry, kind of like Blake and Weiss were right then.

“I still need to pick out my own,” Akelarre said. “And I think Blake needs help too.”

“And me?” Weiss asked rather archly.

“I had bugs crawling through your wardrobe at Beacon, you don’t need help picking out dresses.”

Ruby’s partner wore a confused expression for a bit, somewhere between indignation and pride. “Can I help?” Ruby asked before Weiss picked one of them and started ranting. Akelarre hesitated, her cheeks still very red, so Ruby tried to help. “Don’t worry about undressing in front of me, I’ve already seen the rest of my team naked.” Akelarre was way prettier than Yang, so she didn’t need to be embarrassed or anything.

Blake’s hand met her face. “And she doesn’t mean anything by it,” she muttered. “I give up, you two are perfect for each other. You’ll just cluelessly bumble into a happy marriage because life isn’t fair that way.”

She flounced away, her pink dress bobbing with every step before she reached back and pulled Weiss along with her. “Hey!” Weiss said.

“Just give up, Weiss. I need a dress and wasting time with those two isn’t worth it.”

Akelarre turned to Ruby, a sickly smile pasted on her face. “So, dresses?”

***

Thank-you to all of my Patreons for for encouraging me every day to write more and more stuff for you guys to consume. 

Right, enough romance shenanigans, we need more explosions and stuff.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter Forty-Four

Akelarre walked one way, then the other, then back again. Cinder followed all of the Princess’ movements with her eyes, head resting on a balled fist as she watched. “You’re going to wrinkle your dress,” she finally said.

The Princess paused and looked down at her dress, a pretty enough thing made of a silky white material over a tighter black cocktail dress. The layered look gave it something of a classical appearance, like the princesses and regents in the textbooks. 

Also, Cinder suspected Akelarre was hiding her own weight’s worth of bugs in the folds. 

“Are you really that nervous?” Cinder asked. She leaned back into the couch and brought her arms up to drape over the back of it. “It’s merely a dance with a girl child you happen to like in the middle of an enemy stronghold.”

Akelarre puffed her cheeks out. “You’re not helping,” she muttered.

Cinder rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. With the number of available hostages there they would be fools to try anything. And it’s near a forest of sorts. I’m sure you can sneak a Grimm or two over to keep watch.”

“I have,” she confirmed. “It doesn’t help any.”

Cinder had had enough. She was already going to this event without truly wanting to just for a chance at sneaking into the CCT tower, she didn’t want to have to deal with the Princess of the Grimm’s... puberty issues on top of it all.

Love was a thing you made others feel for you so that they would be more loyal. That was the end all be all of the emotion as far as she was concerned. So she stood up, adjusted the skirt of her own red dress and shifted her feet in her heels to make sure they were snug. “Come along. We might as well get there early and end this whole charade.”

“It’s hardly a charade,” Akelarre said. Still, she didn’t protest and followed dutifully after Cinder as she walked out of the living room and towards the Bullhead landing pads.

They met Emerald halfway there.

Cinder’s green-haired mook was attired in a long evening gown that was vaguely similar to Cinder’s own, but done in a deep green with false jewels sewn into the fabric. “What are you wearing?” Cinder asked as she took in her subordonate.

“Ah, hello Cinder, Princess Akelarre,” Emerald said. “I just... well, I’m piloting the Bullhead back, but I thought, maybe, if your date didn’t show up. I, uh, could stand in?”

Her face was flaming red, which was only proper. Her plan was foolhardy to the extreme. “And if we need to fight, can you do it in that getup?” she asked before shaking her head. “Nevermind, at least you’ll fit in with the other hopeless teenagers with rented dresses.”

“Yes ma’am,” Emerald whispered. She trailed after Cinder, head down in obeisance and lips set in an unbecoming pout. Cinder had more important things to deal with than her subordonate’s patheticness. At least Emerald was trying to predict Cinder’s needs. She might have to reward the girl later. Maybe some time spent away from her and the stresses of the job would help? 

They reached the Bullhead and found it already spinning up, Mercury in the pilot’s seat in a far more sensible outfit and the back of the ship stuffed with what had to be a metric ton of squirming, writhing Grimmsects.

She paused, hand on the door’s handle to inspect the wiggling mass before she turned around, moved her hair out of her face, and locked eyes with Akelarre.

The Princess shrugged. “They might come in handy?” 

Cinder sighed and pushed Emerald into the Bullhead before her. “If they so much as land on me we’re going to be having words.”

Akelarre nodded. “That’s fine. Not a single one of the insects within the Bullhead before you enter it will land on you.”

She sat down and began to strap herself in when she paused. “That was oddly specific,” she said. The sheepish smile on Akelarre’s face left a sinking pit in her stomach. “How many insects are already on me?”

“Technically, most of the Grimmsects I put on people aren’t actually insects at all. Insects only have six legs which is a good number, but is woefully under-equipped for the kinds of things I want my Grimmsects to be able to do.”

Cinder glared. “Bugs, off.” 

Akelarre sighed and slumped in her seat. “Come on, how else will I keep track of you?”

“I could show you a few tricks,” Emerald said. She clamped up when Cinder looked her way. “I mean, tricks I use to mark targets. Targets that Cinder gives me.” She tried to smile but it was weak and wobbly. Was the girl trying to ingratiate herself with the Princess? Maybe join her thrice-damned harem while she was at it.

“You won’t have any difficulty tracking me tonight because, except for my little plan to the side, I will be by your side all the time.”

“What?” both Akelarre and Emerald said at the same time.

Cinder nodded. “Indeed. Our Majesty has tasked me with keeping an eye on you. Something about keeping you from working your wiles on more girls. She thinks that three people is the perfect number of members for a harem and that more would just be trouble.”

“But you’re dancing with Neo,” Akelarre said. “She’s going to be really annoyed if you don’t pay her attention. Like, murderously annoyed.”

“Oh please, I can handle the little girl. And besides, I doubt she would mind staying close to you during the night. She’s also a member of your group of deviants, after all”

Akelarre glared at her, then huffed. “Fine, but I still expect you to treat her well. You need to dance with her, and do small talk, and give her ice cream and snacks to keep her happy.”

“Is she your girlfriend or a poodle?”

“Hey, Neo is the least... well okay, she’s kind of poodle-like, but you can’t treat her like that. Or think of her like that. Or say anything even remotely similar to that out loud where she might hear you. I don’t want to have to explain to Mom why you ended up in a ditch somewhere.”

Mercury popped his head into the compartment. “We’re two minutes out,” he said. “I’m about to call in for landing permission. Hang on.”

The Bullhead shifted, then moved sideways while its engine nassels turned so that it could come to a hover over the landing area next to Beacon. 

The school had gone all out with the decorations, lights strung out across pathways, flowers arranged in neat rows and in baskets near every lamppost, and brightly coloured confetti hung from here and there, masking the more utilitarian buildings in festive colours. 

“Pretty,” Akelarre said as she stepped out of the Bullhead. 

Cinder agreed, but she wasn’t about to admit it aloud. Instead she jumped out next to her and stared at the hand Emerald was holding out, as if she expected Cinder to help her down. She huffed and walked to the Princess’ side. “Well, are we going to stand here all night?” she asked.

“No, I was just hoping that Ruby would be here. Neo’s already here so I thought maybe she’d show up too.”

“And where is your littlest friend?” Cinder asked. “Is she hidden behind someone else? It wouldn’t be hard with her stature.”

“No, she’s right next to you, actually.”

Cinder felt a frisson of cold running down her back and turned to her side to find her date for the night looking up at her, smile locked in place. Neo was in a tight little dress with a band of pink flowers running around her waist and over an opening that exposed her abs and belly button.

“Ah, hello Neo,” Cinder said. Years of keeper her cool around the occasionally temperamental Salem served her well as the tiny assassin’s smile refused to budge. “Your dress is quite pretty. You’d almost think you had reached adulthood.”

Neo tilted her head to one side. 

“She said, ‘do you really want to play that game?’” Akelarre translated. 

“It would hardly be fair,” Cinder said. “I don’t play games with children.”

Neo quirked an eyebrow.

Cinder didn’t wait for the Princess’ translation. “Look, Neo, neither of us need to like each other, we merely have to live with each other. I’m here to keep an eye on the Princess, same as you. We do that, avoid any suitors, dance exactly once together and then the evening is done. I won’t step on your toes if you avoid mine.”

Neo’s expressive eyes disappeared as she closed them and tapped on her chin with one short, manicured finger. She nodded after a moment had passed.

“Very well then,” Cinder said. She turned to make sure that the Bullhead would be cared for, found Mercury awkwardly patting a crying Emerald on the back, and told herself that if it wasn’t there when she returned she was resourceful enough to find some other way home.

“Let’s go find Ruby and the others!” Akelarre said, one fist rising into the air as if she was ready to lead a cavalry charge. Judging by the number of small, inconspicuous insects that shot past her and towards the school, that was exactly what was happening.

They had taken a dozen steps when Cinder heard something that made her heart shudder.

“Oh oh.”

***

Coco stood in the Princess of the Grimm’s path like a bulwark ready to withstand a siege. 

The Princess, filthy best-friend-stealing, bunny-ear-petting bitch that she was, blinked back with a complete lack of comprehension that had Coco grinding her teeth.

“We need to talk,” she said before crossing her arms and setting her legs in a wide, defensive stance.

“Alone?” Akelarre asked. She looked past Coco and towards the cafeteria which had been converted into a ballroom for the night. It was still far enough away that they probably didn’t stand out much from the others heading towards the building.

“Yes,” Coco said.

“No,” the woman next to Akelarre said.

Coco snapped her attention onto her, then looked her up and down. She was standing there the same way a lioness would be standing near a herd of injured gazelles, as if she was merely humouring Coco by not attacking already.

“The Princess is under my protection tonight. I’m afraid that I can’t let her out of my sight so easily, especially not under such suspicious circumstances.”

“Aww, c’mon Cinder, I doubt Coco could hurt me.”

Coco clenched her jaw at that. Was the bitch underestimating her?

“Is she not the one that killed you?” Cinder asked. “Your mother would be most upset if you died and ruined your dress on your big night out.”

Now they were doing it on purpose. “Fine, you can come too,” Coco said. “This isn’t some sort of ambush.” 

She nodded off to the side where there was a path between two buildings. It was well lit and open, but at least it wouldn’t be as visible as standing in the middle of the main thoroughfare.

Akelarre and her friends followed. The short one planted herself by the side of the building and started bobbing to the beat of the ball’s distant music. The other one just stood as if the rod up her backside was particularly stiff. 

“So, what’s up?” Akelarre asked. “Is this about my harem?”

Coco set her shoulders. “No this is abo--” Coco’s mind ground to a halt and it took a second for her to comprehend what she’d just said. “What harem?” 

“Nevermind,” Akelarre said too quickly.

“Wait, are you saying that you’re too much of a woman for one woman to handle?” Coco seethed. “And to think that Velvet thought that she was dating you.”

“She... is?” Akelarre said. “Just not tonight. Wait, is that why you’re here? Is she upset?”

Coco’s anger boiled over. “Of course she’s upset!” she said. “You didn’t ask her out to the ball and now you’re going to dance with that little red strumpet.”

“I thought she liked Ruby?” Akelarre asked.

“She does!” Coco said. “That’s the problem, the two of them get along and Velvet, being the clueless, too-kind idiot she is, wants to give Ruby a chance. But now she has no one to dance with.”

“Oh,” Akelarre said. She looked genuinely disappointed. Coco would have given her points for that if she wasn’t a BFF-stealing hoe. “Well, do you have a date?”

“What?” Coco asked, the non-sequitur catching her off guard.

“Do you have a date?”

Coco snorted. “No, I’m too cool to just go with some nobody.” She flicked her hair out behind her and tried to look casual about it.

The short one snorted and tall-dark-and-murdery rolled her eyes.

“Okay then,” Akelarre said. “That means there’s an easy solution. Velvet dating me shouldn’t mean that she loses her friends. I would never ask that of her. So if you ask Velvet out, as a friend, then you can be there for her all night. I’m her sorta-maybe-girlfriend, not her best friend. That’s you, I think.”

Coco felt her cheeks warming up. “That’s... that’s not how it works?” 

Akelarre shook her head. “Of course it is. Velvet has a Coco-shaped hole in her best friend slot and you would fit in it just fine. I know we never really got along, what with you killing me and my pet and then trying to get me arrested, but I can put that aside for Velvet’s sake.” 

“I...” Coco paused and glared at Akelarre. It had about the same effect as throwing a leaf at a Beowolf. “You’re a real pain in the ass,” she said.

The Princess blinked at that. “Huh?”

She threw her arms up and stomped away. “Fine!” she said. “You win. Also, your dress isn’t so bad.”

“Uh, thanks?” Akelarre said. She could feel the Princess’ eyes on her back as she moved away. It didn’t matter, she had a bunny girl to find and a friendship that still needed some mending.

***

Cinder is just so done with this shit.

Thank-you to all of my Patrons for for encouraging me every day to write more and more stuff for you guys to consume.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter Forty-Five

“Ruby!”

“Akelarre!”

The two crashed together with an ‘oomph’ that soon turned into a cascade of wild giggles as they clutched onto each other for balance. Akelarre grinned down at Ruby, then placed a hand on each shoulder to push her back so she could inspect her date for the evening. “Ooh, you’re so cute in that!” she said.

Ruby’s face lit up, but the huge grin she wore did wonders to distract from the blush. “You were there when I bought this dress,” she said.

“Yup, I was,” Akelarre agreed. “And yet you managed to make it look even better since!”

“Akelarre, stop,” Ruby said as she fluttered her hands at Akelarre. “It’s embarrassing.’

“Hmph, am I supposed to pretend that I’m not the luckiest princess here because my date is the prettiest?” Akelarre felt her own cheeks warming up, and the butterflies in her tummy were refusing to obey her commands to calm down.

“Akelarre!” Ruby protested.

“God, you two are so sappy,” Weiss said.

Akelarre turned and took in all the people around them. Yang was grinning widely next to an expressionless Blake, Weiss was standing with her arms crossed, though one arm was lower than the other so that Penny could hook a hand around its crook. Cinder and Neo were standing not too far behind, both looking around at the students still filing into the ballroom.

“Sorry about that, I had to remind Ruby that she’s the best,” Akelarre said, it made Ruby’s face light up again. Getting her to blush was growing to be her favourite game. “So, are we just going to hang out over here all night? Because I’d be okay with that.”

“Oh, I have drawn up an itinerary based on popular media tropes drawn from hundreds of dance scenes in books and movies,’ Penny said from her spot next to Weiss. Her eyes flickered for a moment and when she next started talking it was as if she was reading off a list.

“Step one: Meet Weiss and hold her hand. Accomplished!  
Step two: Obtain refreshments for Weiss and attempt small talk. Pending.  
Step three: Dance with Weiss. Pending.  
Step four: After repeating steps two and three for a period approximating two hours, exit the building and move to a romantic location. Pending.  
Step five: declare undying love to Weiss and-slash-or ask for her hand in marriage. Pending.”

Weiss, contrary to Akelarre’s expectations, didn’t start stuttering or blushing. She pressed a hand to her face and then shook her head. “No Penny. That itinerary isn’t suitable for Ruby and Akelarre. Or us for that matter. There are flaws with it that we can address later.”

“I see,” Penny said. “Would it be suitable for friend-Blake and friend-Yang?”

“Sure, why not,” Weiss said.

“H-hey now,” Yang protested. “Back up a minute there.”

“The Xiao-Long-Rose family really has a thing for royalty, huh?” Blake asked, her lips twitching up at the corner in a smug smile that was trying really hard to burst past her emotionless facade.

There were twin cries of “Blake!” from Ruby and Yang and a round of laughter from the others. Akelarre pulled Ruby closer by her side and gestured towards the Ballroom. “Should we go in?” she asked. “I haven’t eaten anything and now I’m starving.”

“Ah, I didn’t eat either,” Ruby said. “I was way too nervous.”

Akelarre started walking over, Ruby still tucked up against her side like a comfortable warm limpet. “Nervous? Why?”

“Ah, well, it’s my first dance and I don’t really know how to dance and I was just worried because I was worried I guess.”

Akelarre snorted. “Now you’re just being silly.”

“Nu-uh, Yang said it was my right as a hormonal mess of a teenager to be nervous about dances. And she was probably right this time.”

Akelarre chuckled. “This time, huh?”

“Oh yeah. You should have seen her getting ready for tonight. She was all twitchy and nervous and scared. It was kinda cute. Or it would have been if her shower didn’t take two hours. Blake was ready to skewer her by the time she came out.” Ruby shook her head. “I had to borrow team JNPR’s shower. They have two boys, so they didn’t need it as much.”

“Hair care is important though,” Akelarre said before running her fingers through Ruby’s hair.

Ruby pouted. “You’re just like Yang. My hair always looks like I had a fight with my pillow and lost.”

“Have you tried growing it out?” she asked as they reached the doors to the ballroom.

Ruby nodded. “Do you have any idea how many little moving parts Crescent Rose has? Long hair is a bad idea.” Her voice got louder and louder as she had to compensate for the music in the room. The bass alone was making the floor shiver rhythmically. The dance floor was currently filled with couples bouncing around with more enthusiasm than skill, though a few actually looked like they knew what they were doing.

All along the walls were chairs and some round tables where groups of friends were sitting down and screaming over the music while nursing drinks. It took Akelarre’s smaller bugs ten seconds to find the first spiked drink and a few students surreptitiously passing a bottle back and forth under a table.

“Drinks first!” she declared as she pulled Ruby towards the back, her friends all kind of followed after them like a group of lost and confused ducklings.

Yang shot ahead, dragging Blake with her so that she could arrive at the punch bowl first. “I was going to tell you a joke,” she told Blake. “But there’s no punchline.”

“Oh Yang,” Ruby sighed too low for anyone else to hear. “She’ll never get Blake with that kind of joke.”

Akelarre shrugged and pretended not to notice that flat look on Blake’s face as she found some plastic cups and began filling them. “Maybe if she’s persistent Blake will give in in a, uh, decade or two.”

Ruby giggled as she accepted her cup. She hesitated for a second, then looped an arm in Akelarre’s, and dragged her away from their friends. The others were too busy getting drinks and picking snacks to really follow, though Neo and Cinder were still keeping an eye on them.

“Hey, Akelarre,” Ruby said. “Can we talk about harems and stuff?”

“Ah, I mean, yeah, sure.” She swallowed, a pit suddenly opening up in her stomach.

“It’s not fair that you haven’t let me have fun with the other girls. I barely spoke to Neo at all and Velvet’s all confused and nervous. Next time you need to invite all of us together, okay?”

“Okay?” Akelarre said. She wasn’t exactly sure what she should have been saying or how to react to Ruby’s openness on the subject, but she tried to take it all in stride. “So, now what?” she asked.

“I think we’re supposed to dance,” Ruby said. They both eyed the dance floor where people were bouncing around like lunatics to music that was only growing louder. “But uh, if you don’t want to that’s fine.”

“I don’t mind at all. But if you don’t feel like it’s okay,” Akelarre said.

They stared at each other and then broke out into a fit of giggles that had them bumping shoulders and standing a little closer so that they could watch all the students making fools of themselves on the dancefloor.

Weiss in particular seemed less than enthused with Penny’s dancing, even though she was bobbing and waving her arms to the beat. Meanwhile, Blake and Yang actually looked like they were having fun near the chaotic centre of the floor right next to where Velvet and Coco were boogieing down.

“Should we get more to drink?” Ruby asked as she stared into her empty cup.

Akelarre shook her head. “Neo spiked it already,” she said. She had a few Grimmsects, clean ones, dip a feeler or two into the punch to taste. Grimm couldn’t get drunk, but they could taste well enough. “Best not to.”

“Aww, but dad never lets me drink anything.”

Akelarre snorted and bumped into Ruby again. “I already look like a bad influence, don’t make it worse by actually getting drunk around me.”

“I won’t!” Ruby said.

Akelarre smiled down at her and ruffled her hair, much to her protest. Then her bugs sensed a single person step into the room and her good humour faded a little.

Ozpin was framed by the doorway, his silhouette thin and emaciated in the dim lighting. Still, she could sense his eyes locked onto her. They stared at each other from across the ballroom before he looked away and dove into the crowd.

“Are you going to have to run?” Ruby asked. “We... well, I did want to try to dance at least once tonight, but if you have to go, it’s okay.”

Akelarre brought her smile back, but it felt off. Still she grabbed Ruby in a sidelong hug and rubbed her cheek on her head. “It’s fine. We’ll be fine.”

“He’s coming this way,” Cinder said as she approached. She looked out of place in the crowd. Not because she wasn’t stunning or anything, but because her expression didn’t fit the otherwise festive occasion.

“Let him come,” Akelarre said. She pushed Ruby towards Neo who was standing a step behind Cinder. “Ruby, do you mind keeping Neo company? She gets lonely if no one talks to her.”

Neo pouted, but it melted into a shit eating grin when Ruby beamed at her.

“Don’t steal her first dance, okay? It’s supposed to be mine and I’ll be really jealous if you dance together first,” Akelarre said.

Neo shrugged and began pulling Ruby towards the buffet table, making a beeline for the display filled with small bowls of ice cream.

“Are you sure this is wise?” Cinder asked. She was standing with a drink in one hand and facing out of one of the windows along the wall. To anyone looking from elsewhere it might have looked like she was just a student taking a break from all the dancing.

“No,” she admitted. “But I’d rather bite the bullet now rather than wait around and fret. There’s only so much Ozma can do to us in the end. Knowing what he wants might not be all that bad.”

“I’ll be near,” Cinder said.

Akelarre nodded, then turned to face the headmaster.

Ozpin moved with the assurance of someone that knew that others would move out of his way, and to be fair, no one was bumping into the headmaster on purpose. They probably assumed he was acting as a chaperon of sorts. Which, if it was a chaperon’s duty to make sure that nothing too complicated happened to their charges, then he did fit the bill.

He paused a few steps away and adjusted his glasses where they perched on the end of his nose. “Miss Akelarre?”

“Ozma.”

“I was hoping that we could talk,” he said.

She tilted her head to one side, hair cascading down to frame her face. “Just talk?” she asked.

He nodded. “Just talk. I read your... mother’s letter. I don’t want to fight, not here, not now.”

She looked past him and to all the students having the time of their lives. "... No, I'm busy."

Ozpin shifted. "It's about the fate of the world."

Her attention snapped back to him. "The world's not going to end before the dance finishes, will it?"

"No, I suppose not."

Akelarre's shoulders slumped. "Oh, thank Mom, I was afraid the world really was ending. I hate it when that happens."

"Does it... happen often?" he asked with an appropriate amount of hesitation.

"You'd be surprised. It's exhausting." She nodded. “Okay fine, come, we can talk outside.”

***

We’re actually approaching the end of (book one of) Princess. Also, I posted a naughty chapter on QQ which features future harem buddies Neo and Ruby. Check it out if you want.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter Forty-Six

The air outside had become brisk and a bit chilly while she had been in the ballroom. Or maybe it was the warmth of the dancefloor and of so many bodies pressed together that got her used to a warmer temperature than what could be found outside. 

The difference wasn’t stark, but it had her crossing her arms and wishing for a coat. Her dress, as pretty as it was, wasn’t exactly warm. “Where did you want to talk?” she asked the headmaster.

Ozpin eyed her carefully, then gestured to one of the school buildings nearby. “If we go through there we’ll find a little sitting area. There are benches and such. It’s quite peaceful.”

She nodded, her grimmsects having found the place he was talking about already. Just an open space with walkways linking different parts of the school together. A big tree sat in the middle of it all, canopy acting as a sort of roof to cover a few picnic tables and benches and some boxes filled with flowers. 

It was probably a nice spot for students to take their lunches. Very romantic, though she doubted that was what Ozpin was aiming for. Her Grimmsects couldn’t find anyone, spot any snipers, or sniff out any high-yield explosives or dust in the area, so it was probably not a trap.

“We should sit,” Ozpin said as he moved towards one of the picnic tables. 

Akelarre followed after him, eyeing his cane until he leaned it against the side of the table and let go of it. She slid into the seat across from him with some difficulty. Pretty dresses might be, but made for easy movement they were not. 

Ozpin took a long breath to gather himself, then he began. “I read the letter Salem sent. She said that you were enjoying your time in Vale. I’m sorry to have interrupted that. Ironwood can be a little overzealous, but the fault really rests on my shoulders.”

Akelarre nodded with the uncertain slowness of someone facing a rabid animal. Not that she thought Ozpin was rabid, but no politician opened with a statement of guilt if they could avoid it. “Okay. Yeah, that was sort of mean of you, but I can understand why you did it. You and mom haven’t exactly been on talking terms for a while.”

“I think that is something of an understatement. We have been at war for millenia.”

She leaned onto the table elbows first. “You know, I never got that. The whole eternal battle you have going between the two of you. Wouldn’t it be easier to just learn from your mistakes and change the game?”

“I don’t think it’s quite that easy,” Ozpin said.

“Maybe not. I am something of a sore loser, so my opinion might be biased.” She tried a smile and felt it become genuine when she noticed the tug at the corner of Ozpin’s lips.

“To think that Salem raised a girl that is so much like her. Who would have thought.”

“Hey now, I’m nothing like mom,” Akelarre said. “For one thing, she outsmarts me at every turn. For another, we have an entirely different approach to... well, lots of things.”

“Oh? Well, now I’m curious.”

He was fishing for information. Almost blatantly so. She would have done the same were their positions changed. “I’ve always been an advocate for the survival of humanity, for one,” she said. “I want to see humans prosper, to see us take to the stars one day and reach across the solar system and even beyond.” She stretched her neck back. The stars were subsumed by all the lights from Beacon and Vale, but there were still some just bright enough to sparkle through that haze of light. 

“That’s... ambitious,” Ozpin said.

“I’m an ambitious sort of girl.” 

The headmaster nodded at that. “I think I can tell. You’ve been quite friendly with some of the students here. Miss Rose, Miss Scarlatina...”

She looked down from the heavens and hoped that the few locks of hair sliding before her face would hide her faint blush. “Of course. They’re good friends.”

“Friends,” he repeated.

“I’m not discussing my love life with my mom’s ex,” she said.

Ozpin raised both hands in surrender. “Fair enough. I just worry for the safety of my students.”

“You would think, then, that having them near me would be a good thing. I don’t want to boast, but I can keep them safe. That much is easy. It’s the keeping them happy part that I find tricky sometimes. I just hope that being the best friend I can be will be enough for that.”

He looked at her for a long time, eyes judging and measuring. “You actually want the best for them, don’t you?”

“I do,” she said. “I really do. That’s why I wasn’t averse to talking to you here.” She took a deep breath to settle her nerves. “I want this war to end.”

He raised both eyebrows. “You would go against your mother?”

“You assume that I need to go against her for the war to end?” 

“Isn’t that the case?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, of course not. Wars are fought for reasons. The last one I was in was a war for survival. Humanity fighting tooth and claw for the right to live. This one... this one isn’t against a god or some alien power. This entire war is between you and Salem, because both of you are unable to just let things be.”

“I wish we could change that, but I don’t see it happening,” he said.

“Don’t, or can’t? She asked. “If mom stopped sending the Grimm against humanity, if she pulled back and let humanity grow once more and let the world prosper again, would you allow it, or would you use it as an excuse to resummon your gods?”

“I can’t imagine that happening with Salem in charge.”

“Imagine it anyway,” she asked. 

“I... I suppose it would be nice, to rebuild humanity, to open the gates and extend beyond our fortresses.” He ran a finger around a whorl in the table’s wood. “For so long much of the world has been locked behind walls.”

“Then you’d accept defeat?” she asked.

His head snapped up. “Pardon?”

“Ozma,” she said. “You have been leading your side of things against mom for millenia and I don’t think you’ve ever come close to winning. It’s time to change the game. I’m willing to do that much, and I think mom would be too. Stop trying to kill her, stop trying to put everything at risk and just... surrender. I don’t mean that you should walk up to mom and get on your knees or anything. Goodness knows she can hold a grudge and would probably torture you just for fun, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep fighting what is essentially a losing battle.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“It is. I want to pull back the Grimm. To institute changes on the societal level that should help with things like organized crime and the rampant racism you have been suffering with. If you work from your end then... maybe the stars aren’t so far away after all?” 

“Ambitious,” he said. This time there was something in his voice, a catch that hadn’t been there the last time. 

She had the impression that this time it was something of a compliment. 

“I want this war to end. I want all wars to end. I want to be happy with my friends. I want all sorts of things, but most of them can’t happen if the fighting doesn’t stop.” 

She scooted off the bench. She wished she could have stood up with some flair, but that was impossible with a picnic table and flowing dress, not unless she contorted herself out of the bench and risked flashing the old man across from her. 

“One way or another, Ozpin, your war ends, not with a bang but with a whisper. Maybe that’s for the best?”

She walked away.

***

“Ruby, help,” Akelarre complained as she found her favourite bundle of hyperactivity talking at a million miles an hour to an attentive Neo. She crashed into the shorter girl from behind and nuzzled her cheek against Ruby’s. “I need help,” she whined.

“How come?” Ruby asked. She ignored the nuzzling. Her eyes reminded Akelarre of a dog that knew its friend needed help, full of the desire to make things better. “What happened.”

“I had a really stressful meeting,” Akelarre said. “And the only cure to stress is hugging cute things,” Akelarre said before squeezing Ruby close. 

The girl giggled. “Did you need help finding something cute?”

Akelarre mock-gasped. “There’s something cuter than you?” She looked around the room as if searching. Neo raised one hand and pointed it towards her own face. “Nice try Neo, but you’re only nineteen twentienths as cute as Ruby.” 

Neo’s cheeks puffed out in immediate indignation.

“Ruby, use your puppy eyes on Neo, quick,” Akelarre said as she pushed Ruby before her. She couldn’t see the expression Ruby wore, but it had Neo looking away and pouting even harder. That was a victory. “See, Ruby is the cutest one here.” She nuzzled against Ruby again, earning another round of giggles. 

“We should dance!” Ruby cheered. “I promised Neo I would dance with her, but you’re my--my date tonight so we should dance together first.”

“Ah, but then who will I dance with while you’re with Neo?” Akelarre asked.

“I wouldn’t mind volunteering, if you’d have me?” The three girls turned to find Velvet standing just close enough to overhear them. She stepped closer, head tilting forwards so that her floppy bunny ears covered her eyes a little. “Ah, that is, if you don’t mind.” 

“Ruby, scoot to the side,” Akelarre said. “Velvet is being silly and she needs group hugs to squeeze the silly out.”

The night ended with many hugs, and lots of terrible dancing.

***

Woo! 

I think... I think this ends the first book of this story. Kind of a slow, somewhat anticlimactic ending. Hopefully the Epilogue will cover things a bit more.


End file.
